Erling Haaland’s two early goals sank an extremely difficult Bournemouth at Etihad, putting Man City back on the winning track.

After a disappointing defeat at Aston Villa last week, Pep Guardiola has asked his players to drastically improve their playing style before Man City welcome Bournemouth. The visitors seemed to shock home team Man City when Eli Kroupi tore the net of goalkeeper Donnarumma after just 45 seconds, but the joy was short-lived when the goal was ruled out for offside.

Man City took that as a warning and quickly accelerated with deadly efficiency: In the 17th minute, Erling Haaland rushed down to receive Rayan Cherki’s pass, got past Bournemouth’s defense and finished past goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.

Bournemouth defenders watched helplessly as Haaland scored the opening goal.

Andoni Iraola’s side were not about to give up easily. Just eight minutes later, Bournemouth equalised when Tyler Adams capitalised on Gianluigi Donnarumma’s error from Alex Scott’s corner kick and fired home from the rebound.

Tyler Adam (12) equalized for Bournemouth

But the joy of equalizing did not last long, as Bournemouth paid the price for letting “killer” Haaland escape. The Norwegian striker broke free, passed Petrovic and gently put the ball into the net, scoring his 13th goal this season.

Haaland completed his double after 16 minutes

Erling Haaland became the third player to score two or more goals in four consecutive home games in the Premier League, after Robbie Fowler (1995-96) and Luis Suarez (2013). A true Premier League phenomenon.

Donnarumma prevented a clear goal

Bournemouth continued to play with determination in the second half and almost equalized again, but Donnarumma made a brilliant save from Kroupi after a beautiful combination between David Brooks and Scott. However, City still showed their superiority. In a smooth combination, Phil Foden passed to Nico O’Reilly, who controlled the ball neatly and calmly entered the penalty area to shoot diagonally to seal the victory, almost ending Bournemouth’s hopes.

Nico O’Reilly scored the winning goal to make it 3-1

The third goal completely devastated the Cherries, who were almost powerless against City’s solid defense. 

Although both teams made changes for the rest of the match, Pep Guardiola’s team still controlled the game easily, closing out a victory that helped them rise to second place, one point ahead of Bournemouth, pushing their opponents down to fourth.

Man City returns to winning streak, takes second place in Premier League

Speaking after the match, coach Pep Guardiola emphasized that Bournemouth is one of the toughest teams, especially the one that “destroyed” Man City last season, so he asked his players to play with focus.

For his part, Bournemouth coach Andoni Iraola had no complaints about his players when the opponent was too strong. “Haaland is very good, in great form and very difficult to defend. Our central defenders were not able to keep up with him and conceded a goal.”