City return to winning ways with victory over Bournemouth

• Manchester City beat a determined Bournemouth team 4-1 at the Vitality Stadium
• Goals from Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, and an own goal by Chris Mepham secured the win for the Citizens
• Jefferson Lerma would score a late consolation goal for the Cherries

Manchester City beat a determined Bournemouth team 4-1 at the Vitality Stadium to get back to winning ways in the Premier League.

Goals from Erling Haaland, Julian Alvarez, Phil Foden, and an own goal by Chris Mepham secured the win for the Citizens.

Jefferson Lerma would score a late consolation goal for the Cherries, which is exactly what their valiant display merited, but Pep Guardiola’s raging juggernaut could not be stopped.

How the game unfolded

Foden was on target at Bournemouth.|PHOTO: Sky Sports|

Man City didn’t require any additional motivation to get back to winning ways at the Vitality Stadium after seeing Arsenal go five points ahead at the top by defeating Leicester City; the tiebreaking goal came in just 15 minutes.

Rico Lewis made a determined effort to win the ball back, as City advanced infield and Ilkay Gundogan fired in a cross to Foden, whose approach was stopped by Neto’s extended leg.

Alvarez, who was in the perfect spot at the perfect moment to score, capitalized on a blocked Haaland shot, and the goal was eventually confirmed after a quick VAR review.

The clinical champs increased their lead to two with Haaland’s goal in the 29th minute, despite the fact that the Cherries weren’t hesitant to approach Man City when the chance arose.

Once more, Gundogan was the mastermind; he sent a cross from the left that Foden headed toward the goal for Haaland, who duly finished for his 27th goal in the top flight of the year.

Haaland breaks another record

Erling Haaland’s goal broke Sergio Aguero’s previous record for City’s most goals in a single Premier League season.|PHOTO: Sky Sports|

Haaland’s goal broke Sergio Aguero’s previous record for City’s most goals in a single Premier League season set in 2014–15, but Bournemouth didn’t give up. In the 37th minute, Adam Smith blasted a thunderbolt toward goal that Ruben Dias stopped.

However, Bournemouth’s bravery would remain ineffective as Foden made it three for the visitors in the 44th minute by seizing on a sloppy ball from Philip Billing and scoring from close range.

In the first six minutes of the second half, City scored their fourth goal. Alvarez finished a long, flowing City play down the right by chesting the ball down and half-volleying it toward the goal with Chris Mepham mainly assisting.

Few heart-in-mouth moments would occur for City going forward, but some may have been uneasy after a significant scramble in City’s box in the 66th minute, where a Dominic Solanke effort was stopped by Kalvin Phillips.

Without a doubt, Bournemouth deserved to score for their efforts, and they did it in the 83rd minute when Lerma scored after Dias’s clumsy clearing from Jordan Zemura’s cross fell to him.

What the results mean

Man City remains second and has reduced the deficit to leaders Arsenal, who still have a game remaining, to only two points. Guardiola’s team is now preparing for Tuesday’s FA Cup fifth-round match against Bristol City.

After falling below the cutoff earlier on Saturday, Bournemouth is still ranked 19th, and their next match is a difficult trip to Arsenal the following Saturday.