SI

Man City Player Ratings vs. Bournemouth: Clinical Haaland Sinks Cherries

Haaland scored his 12th and 13th goals of the season taking a seven goal lead in the early Golden Boot race.

Max Mallow

Yet another brace for Erling Haaland.
Yet another brace for Erling Haaland. / James Gill/Danehouse/Getty Images

Manchester City defeated Bournemouth on Sunday in the penultimate game of the Premier League week to go six points back of Arsenal.

The first half was a cagey, physical affair as both teams believed they could get a result on the night. Though, only one side had Erling Haaland. The Norwegian was clinical in front of goal after failing to score last weekend against Aston Villa.

Though Tyler Adams scored his first Premier League goal to keep them in the tie, Rayan Cherki cut open the Cherries defence again for Haaland’s second of the evening.

The result marks just Bournemouth’s second loss in 10 games this season. Overall, the Man City defence limited the Cherries’ talented attackers to half-chances.

FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark

Man City Player Ratings vs. Bournemouth (4-2-3-1)

Rayan Cherki, Erling Haaland
The shining stars for Man City on the night. / Robbie Jay Barratt/AMA/Getty Images

*Ratings Provided by FotMob*

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma—6.7: Should have done better on the corner for Bournemouth’s only goal of the evening.

RB: Matheus Nunes—7.7: Performed well and dealt with Semenyo and Adrien Truffert for most of the night.

CB: Rúben Dias—6.9: The Portuguese was solid at the back and looks to be building some consistent form.

CB: Joško Gvardiol—6.9: Put in some big tackles and won four of his six duels.

LB: Nico O’Reilly—8.3: Probably should’ve had two goals on the night, but will be happy to secure his first goal of the season.

DM: Nico González—7.7: The Spaniard had another strong showing knowing competition for places will increase given the return of Rodri.

DM: Bernardo Silva—6.8: A more quiet night for the Portuguese. In and out of the game at times.

RW: Rayan Cherki—8.6: The creative spark that set Haaland free for both of his first half goals.

AM: Phil Foden—8.0: Active and accurate in a central creative role on his 200th league appearance for the Cityzens.

LW: Jérémy Doku—7.4: Completed the most dribbles of any player (5) and also created the most chances (4).

ST: Erling Haaland—9.1: Scored two clinical goals after blanking last time out in the Premier League.

Substitute

Rating (Out of 10)

Tijjani Reijnders (73’ for Doku)

6.1

Savinho (73’ for Cherki)

6.5

Omar Marmoush (82’ for Haaland)

N/A

Rodri (90’ for Silva)

N/A

Rayan Aït-Nouri (90’ for Foden)

N/A

Subs not used: James Trafford (GK), John Stones, Nathan Aké, Rico Lewis

Bournemouth (4-2-3-1)

Starting XI: Djordje Petrovic; Álex Jiménez, Bafodé Diakité, Marcos Senesi, Adrien Truffert; Alex Scott, Tyler Adams; David Brooks, Marcus Tavernier, Antoine Semenyo; Eli Junior Kroupi

Subs used: Justin Kluivert, Lewis Cook, Evanilson, Ryan Christie, Ben Gannon Doak

Player of the Match: Erling Haaland

Man City 3–1 Bournemouth—How It Unfolded at Etihad Stadium

Man City looked to carry momentum from their midweek Carabao Cup triumph over Swansea into the match. In their way was an intense, well-coached Bournemouth side under Andoni Iraola.

Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute in clinical fashion. Cherki did well to set the Norwegian away from just inside their own half as Haaland raced toward the Bournemouth goal. He made no mistake to beat Petrovic with a vicious strike.

The hosts did not lead for long, though. Tyler Adams equalised for the Cherries from a corner. Donnarumma failed to deal with a dangerous ball from Alex Scott as the rebound fell to the U.S. international. Man City players protested to referee Anthony Taylor for a foul, but it was checked and cleared by VAR. It was the American’s first goal in the Premier League.

Yet, for all the good work done from the corner, Haaland could not be contained. A brilliant pass around the corner by Cherki set Haaland on his way again as he rounded an oncoming Petrovic to bag a brace.

Nico O’Reilly added a third in the 60th minute to put the game to bed. Haaland did not get the chance to complete his hat trick as he was substituted in the 82nd minute for Omar Marmoush. Overall, the 15th time he’s been taken off with a brace, but also his fourth straight home game finding the back of the net twice.

A positive sign late in the game was the return of Rodri. The 2024 Ballon d’Or winner had a brief cameo in stoppage time marking his first return since picking up an injury against Brentford earlier in the season.

The result puts Man City six points back of Arsenal for the league lead. Next up is a Champions League match against Borussia Dortmund before facing Liverpool.

Man City vs. Bournemouth Halftime Stats

Statistic

Man City

Bournemouth

Possession

53%

47%

Expected Goals (xG)

1.76

0.37

Total Shots

9

2

Shots on Target

6

2

Big Chances

4

1

Pass Accuracy

88%

89%

Fouls

5

2

Corners

6

1

Man City vs. Bournemouth Full Time Statistics

Statistic

Man City

Bournemouth

Possession

48%

52%

Expected Goals (xG)

2.21

0.72

Total Shots

15

8

Shots on Target

8

5

Big Chances

4

1

Pass Accuracy

86%

89%

Fouls

8

11

Corners

9

4

READ THE LATEST MAN CITY NEWS, TRANSFER RUMOURS AND MORE

feed

Published
Max Mallow
MAX MALLOW

Max Mallow is an associate editor for Sports Illustrated, primarily working on the SI FC brand.

Home/Soccer