Man City cruise past Bournemouth 4-0 in EPL

BOURNEMOUTH, England (AP) Manchester City kept its dwindling title chances alive by beating Bournemouth 4-0 in the English Premier League, with midfielder Kevin De Bruyne making a fabulous return on Saturday.

Man City remained in fourth place, 12 points off league leader Leicester with seven games to go.

City started very quickly, with three goals coming in the first 20 minutes. Fernando struck following a corner, which was followed by a fine volley from De Bruyne, and a header by Sergio Aguero.

Aleksander Kolarov finished the scoring in second-half stoppage time.

''When you give a good team an early goal it gives them a lift and it makes it very difficult,'' Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said. ''It was a long game from 3-0 down so credit to the players that they did not cave in, but it was a difficult watch.''

Bournemouth was 13th, 11 points above the relegation zone and looking safe.

City dominated a game that was less important for its slim title ambitions, than for warding off the challenges of West Ham and Manchester United for a top-four place.

City showed no sign of its recent poor away form, scoring three before Bournemouth properly settled.

After a lengthy injury, De Bruyne showed City fans what they've been missing; a brilliant performance which was illustrated perfectly by a fine volley for his goal. He was an integral part of City's apparent return to the form it displayed at the beginning of the season.