Manchester City stayed in touch with Arsenal at the Premier League (PL) summit by cruising to a 4-1 victory over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
Another dominant performance kept up the Cityzens’ remarkable H2H record, winning all 14 of their PL meetings with the Cherries by an aggregate score of 38-6!
Pep Guardiola’s men hit the road for a fourth consecutive away game, looking to avoid wasting a series of chances as they had done in draws with Nottingham Forest and RB LeipzigAMP in their last two outings.
A dominant start calmed the travelling supporters’ nerves, and within 15 minutes they had broken the deadlock.
Phil Foden’s loose touch provided Erling Haaland a huge chance to score only for the Norwegian to hit the bar, but Julián Álvarez was on hand to convert the rebound.
Key in creating the first goal, İlkay Gündoğan was on hand to find Foden inside the area, and the England international was incredibly unselfish to square the ball and give Haaland a tap-in as the champions doubled their lead inside 30 minutes.
Although the goals have dried up of late, Haaland has now broken a club record, with his 27 strikes this season the most by a City player in the PL era, surpassing Sergio Agüero.
A sobering half got worse for the Cherries on the stroke of HT, as Philip Billing’s awful square pass across his own box could only find Foden, who finished emphatically to mark his 200th City appearance with a goal.
Even after the break, Gary O’Neil’s men could do nothing to stop the visitors from sustaining attacks, leaving them extremely vulnerable to the inevitable fourth from City.
After a series of blocks and botched clearances, Álvarez eventually fired home after Chris Mempham’s deflection could only steer the ball over the line.
A patient home support was provided with a small reward for their loyalty in the final moments, as Jefferson Lerma rifled home a powerful volley to ensure City were deprived a clean sheet for a sixth consecutive game in all competitions.
That’ll be of little consequence to Guardiola’s men though, as they kept up the pressure on Arsenal in pursuit of a third consecutive PL title.