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Manchester City FC schooled AFC Bournemouth with a thumping 4-0 win during their Premier League game at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday. Goals from Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Jefferson Lerma (own goal) saw Pep Guardiola’s side take home all three points.
Man City opened the scoring in the 17th minute when Gundogan exchanged passes with Haaland and fired past Mark Travers into the bottom corner. Just past the half-hour mark, de Bruyne curled a shot into the bottom corner with the outside of his right boot to double his side’s lead.
The Belgian then turned provider with a perfectly timed pass to Phil Foden, who beat Travers with a low drive. In the second half, Joao Cancelo’s low cross saw Lerma divert the ball past Travers and make it 4-0.
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On that note, here are five talking points’s from Manchester City’s 4-0 win against Bournemouth.
#1. Five-substitutionsrule works massively in Manchester City’s favor
Manchester City have an embarrassment of riches in their squad. With the Premier League allowing five substitutions to be made in matches from this season onwards, Pep Guardiola’s side will benefit massively from the rule change.
Man City dominated the match until halftime, going 3-0 and not giving Bournemouth a sniff of an opportunity in attack. With the points secured, Guardiola replaced Phil Foden with Jack Grealish at the start of the second half.
Ruben Dias and Erling Haaland have struggled with niggles recently and were taken off, with Julian Alvarez and youngster Rico Lewis making their debuts in their places.
The opportunity to rotate and rest players this early in the season will help Man City immensely when they enter the business end of the campaign, especially with the Qatar World Cup adding to the players’ workload this year.
#2. Man City’s fullbacks, more attackers than defenders
Manchester City’s fullbacks are key to the team’s attacking play and that has been a known fact for several seasons now. That’s how Pep Guardiola likes to operate and one that has yielded results over the years. Against Bournemouth, Joao Cancelo and Kyle Walker ran the show down the wings in characteristic City fashion.
With the two staying wide and providing width, it allowed Phil Foden and Kevin De Bruyne to go narrow and create overloads in the middle, which put off Bournemouth’s man-marking system. Add in Bernardo Silva and Ilkay Gundogan, and it’s almost impossible for teams to keep this star-studded team at bay.
#3. When Erling Halland doesn’t score, he assists
Erling Halland has set all sorts of scoring records for Red Bull Salzburg, Borussia Dortmund and the Norwegian national team. His scoring prowess is well-known, but what’s not spoken about much is his ability to bring his teammates into play by creating a nuisance of himself up front.
Until the opening goal, Haaland had not touched the ball. He made runs, fell back to get involved in attacks and almost looked like a passenger on the pitch.
But in the 19th minute, the ball fell to him, he controlled it under pressure from two defenders and played it into the path of Ilkay Gundogan as he tumbled to the ground. The German scored to end Bournemouth’s resilience, with Haaland playing a vital role in the move.
The 22-year-old can make a difference even when he doesn’t find the back of the net. Have Manchester City finally found a replacement for, if not an upgrade on Sergio Aguero?
#4. Chelsea transfer interest has rejuvenated Nathan Ake’s Manchester City career
Having lost Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger on free transfers this summer, Chelsea were interested in signing their former player Nathan Ake to bolster their defense. Several bids were put in with both the player and Man City open to reaching an agreement. However, the teams could not agree on a free and the Dutchman has stayed put.
Since then, he has established himself as an able partner for Ruben Dias in the absence of Amyeric Laporte in central defense. Quick on his feet, intelligenct and versatile, the 27-year-old could end up becoming a key player for Pep Guardiola this season.
#5. Kevin De Bruyne as sublime as ever
Since Eden Hazard’s departure from Chelsea, Kevin De Bruyne has established himself as the Premier League's best player. He’s had worthy contenders for the title since (like Mohamed Salah), but the Belgian has been weaving his magic in the league for years now and isn’t slowing down with age.
While stats rarely do justice to players like De Buryne, they do, however, give casual viewers an idea of how dominant he was on the pitch. In this match, he reigstered, a 100% take-on success, 98% pass accuracy, 45 passes attempted with 44 completed, one goal and one assist. He ran the show for Manchester City without ever looking like he went beyond second gear.
