Manchester City took no notice of Bournemouth and needed little time to beat the home team 4-1 this afternoon (25th), at Vitality Stadium, in the United Kingdom, and stay on the heels of leader Arsenal. The triumph was entitled to a record of Halland.
- Julián Álvarez, Haaland and Foden scored Manchester City’s goals
- Mepham scored against and Lerma scored the only goal of the Bournemouth na partida
- With 55 points and in vice-leadership, City is only behind Arsenal, with 57
- Bournemouth missed the chance to break out of Z4 and dropped to 19th with 21 points
record holder in the field
Halland became the team’s leading single-season scorer. With 27 goals scored so far in the Premier League 2022/2023, the Norwegian born in the United Kingdom surpassed Sergio Aguero who scored 26 goals in the entire 2014/2015 season.
How was the game
Manager Pep Guardiola has added two penalty players to Manchester City’s starting line-up in order to press the ball out of the Bournemouth and take advantage of possible defensive mistakes.
The strategy worked and the team opened up the lead in the first half., with goals from Julian Álvarez and Erling Haaland. The third goal came from an error by the opponent’s defense, which was taken advantage of by Phil Foden.
Even after opening the lead, City continued to control the game and focus on ball control, maintaining the dominance of the match. The return of Julián Álvarez to the first team was also important to speed up the team’s transition.
Bournemouth had few chances to stay in control and no wonder they only had 32% possession and only managed to create a few opportunities in counterattack plays on the left side, which were always neutralized by the defense commanded by Rúben Dias.
The entry of Fredericks and Rothwell gave more speed to Bournemouth who improved their posture in the second half of the second half, mainly on the right side, allowing the team to score the goal of honor of the game.
Important spears
At 15′ of the first half, City’s first important move was also the one that opened the scoring. After Haaland caught Phil Foden’s left and kicked the crossbar, Julián Álvarez appeared and sent it to the goal.
At 28′ City doubled the score after Foden failed to complete the goal, and the ball was left for Haaland to hit and score.
The home team responded twice in a row.. At 35′, after a corner from the left, the ball was headed into the middle of City’s area, staying alive between the players until Haaland made the cut.
Two minutes later, the team pressed again with a cross from the left, but the ball went through the area and Traoré kicked hard and with little angle.
Before the break Foden also left his. After pressing Bournemouth out of the game, Billing fails to reverse the game and gives a gift to Foden, who dominates and kicks with no chance for Neto.
The situation that was not good for the home team got worse with an own goal by defender Mepham. Just after the break, a powerful shot by Júlian Álvarez deflected off the defender and tricked goalkeeper Neto for City to score the fourth goal of the match.
Lerma scored the goal of honor for the team with only seven minutes left to play after Zemura’s cross from the left side.
triumphal return
Julián Álvarez returned in style to the team’s starting line-up. Scorer of the first goal of the game, the last time the Argentine striker was in Pep Guardiola’s team from the start was in the 1-0 defeat to Tottenham, on February 5th.
Agenda
City returns to the field to face Bristol City for the quarterfinals of the FA Cup next Wednesday (28), at 5 pm (Brasília time). The owners of the house will only return to the field to face Arsenal on March 4th in the Premier League at 12h.
DATASHEET:
BOURNEMOUTH 1 x 4 MANCHESTER CITY
Competition: 25th round of the Premier League
Date and time: February 25, 2023, at 2:30 pm (Brasília time)
Local: Vitality Stadium, UK
Referee: David Coote
Assistants: Nick Hopton e Timothy Wood
Fourth referee: Josh Smith
Yellow cards: Mepham and Akanji (BOU)
Goals: Julián Álvarez (MAC), at 15′ of 1st T; Haaland (MAC) at 28′ of T1 and Foden (MAC) at 26′ of T1; Mepham (BOU), at 5′ of the 2nd T and lerma (BOU), at 38′ of the 2nd T
Bournemouth: Neto, Smith (Rothwell), Stephens, Mepham, Senesi, Zemura, Billing (Fredericks), Lerma, Ouattara, Hamed Traorè (Jaidon Anthony) and Solanke. Coach: Gary O’Neil.
Manchester City: Ederson, Rico Lewis, Akanji, Rúben Dias, Aké, Rodri (Kalvin Phillips), Gündogan (Sergio Gómez), Foden, Julián Álvarez, Grealish (Mahrez) and Haaland (Perrone). Coach: Pep Guardiola
