Man City Player Ratings vs. Bournemouth: Drab Showing Gifts Arsenal Premier League Title

Manchester City needed a win on Tuesday to keep the Premier League title race alive, but they only managed a 1–1 draw with Bournemouth, handing the English crown to Arsenal.

The Cityzens faced an uphill battle at the Vitality Stadium. Bournemouth came into the match on a 17-match unbeaten run, and only suffered two league defeats at home all season.

Pep Guardiola’s men hardly looked up for the challenge and went down 1–0 after Eli Junior Kroupi curled home a goal in the 39th minute, surely sending the red side of north London into a frenzy. City came out in the second half looking much more dangerous, but they still couldn’t put together the end product—let alone get on the scoresheet twice, like they needed.

Erling Haaland finally found the breakthrough for the Sky Blues deep into stoppage time, but in the end, it was nothing more than a consolation goal. Now four points off league-leaders Arsenal with just one game left to play, City could do nothing but concede the Premier League title to the Gunners.

One Thing We Can’t Ignore

Pep Guardiola could not lead his side to a seventh Premier League title. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

Is this the end of an era for City? Reports emerged ahead of Tuesday’s clash that Guardiola is on his way out at the end of the season after a decade in charge at the Etihad.

Hijacking the Premier League title from Arsenal would have been a dream ending for the Spainard, who already won six league titles with City, but his side came up short against Bournemouth. The visitors lacked true urgency in the early stages, content with trusting the process and willing a goal to come to them as opposed to exerting suffocating pressure on the Cherries.

The team was one-dimensional, even in the second half when they needed two goals to stay alive in the title race. All the while, Guardiola was animated as ever on the touchline and on the bench, possibly watching his last opportunity to win the English crown—at least with City—as the seconds ticked down.

He still led City to the Carabao Cup and FA Cup in what could be his final season in the dugout, but Tuesday’s draw will stain his final campaign.

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

Manchester City fell short when it mattered most. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

*Ratings provided by FotMob*

GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma—7.0: Needed the help of his woodwork to hold Bournemouth to just one goal.

RB: Matheus Nunes—7.3: Struggled to contain Marcus Tavernier in the early stages and then got torched by Adrien Truffert in the build-up to Bournemouth’s opener.

CB: Abdukodir Khusanov—6.9: Caught in no man’s land watching an unmarked Kroupi curl home a beauty. Mocked by the home fans when he tried a shot from distance.

CB: Marc Guéhi—6.4: Read the game exceptionally well. Didn’t hesitate to cover for Nunes and Khusanov when he was caught out of position in transition.

LB: Nico O’Reilly—6.9: So focused on Rayan that he lacked his usual prowess pushing forward in the first half. Played much higher up the pitch after the restart, but squandered a massive chance in the 46th minute that he should’ve buried.

DM: Rodri—8.3: One of the few players who can hold his head high. Bossed the game from the midfield, hit the woodwork and had 112 touches, the most in the game.

RM: Antoine Semenyo—6.7: Danced around markers on the right flank as if they weren’t there before he all but disappeared as the game went on. Saw an early goal ruled out by the offside flag.

AM: Mateo Kovačić—6.5: Showed some rust on the ball. Slow to react at times and lacked many decisive interventions.

AM: Bernardo Silva—6.4: Released several tantalizing balls over the top that ultimately failed to find their target. Covered every blade of grass before he was replaced.

LM: Jérémy Doku—6.8: Used his physicality to win the battle against Adam Smith, but to no avail. Didn’t capitalize on a glorious chance to snag the equalizer after the restart, which told the story of his night.

ST: Erling Haaland—7.9: Visibly frustrated after a quiet first half, where he found himself dropping deep just to sniff the ball. Did little to make up for it in the second half until his stoppage time strike, but by then the goal meant little.

SUB: Rayan Cherki (56’ for Silva)—6.3: Impressed in flashes, but lacked his typical creative flair.

SUB: Phil Foden (56’ for Kovačić)—6.4: Only completed 14 passes in 34 minutes plus stoppage time. Kept the ball alive for Haaland to eventually strike.

SUB: Savinho (56’ for Semenyo)—7.0: Lackadaisical defensively, but won all of his duels.

SUB: Omar Marmoush (76’ for Doku)—6.2: Practically invisible.

Subs not used: James Trafford (GK), Rúben Dias, Joško Gvardiol, John Stones, Tijjani Reijnders.

What the Ratings Tell Us

Antoine Semenyo (left) got nothing going against his former club. | Glyn Kirk/AFP/Getty Images

Mateo Kovačić earned a surprise nod on Tuesday, making his first Premier League start of the season. Guardiola perhaps will wish he started a more attack-minded player to increase the tempo of the match and better link up with his forwards as opposed to the defensive midfielder, who had little impact in the final third.
It was a return to the Vitality Stadium to forget for Antoine Semenyo. The winger has produced moments of magic since his winter transfer, but against his former club, he failed to get much of anything going after a few flashy moves in the early stages. It was by all accounts a nightmare time for him to have an unremarkable game.
Erling Haaland might have the Premier League Golden Boot in the bag, but he fell short when it mattered most. The prolific striker was little more than a ghost against the Cherries, failing to even register a shot on target until his last-gasp goal in stoppage time. It might be harsh to criticize City’s only goalscorer, but the Norway international played below his standards, and now his side lost its chance to contend for the league title.

The Numbers That Explain Man City’s Last-Ditch Draw

City completed 459 passes on the night compared to Bournemouth’s 346, but most of them were without any real intent. The Cityzens lacked much of any forward penetration in the first half.
The visitors created just one big chance—Haaland’s goal—in the entire game, and it came in the 95th minute. They were much too lackadaisical with the ball, failing to find the answer to disrupt a stingy Bournemouth backline.
City are lucky they only conceded one goal. The Cherries ended the game with a 1.99xG, and arugably should have put at least one more past Donnarumma by the time the final whistle sounded. A couple of blatant misses and the woodwork saved the scoreline from being much worse for Guardiola’s men.

Statistic	Bournemouth	Man City
Possession	45%	55%
Expected Goals (xG)	1.99	1.67
Total Shots	10	14
Shots on Target	2	5
Big Chances	3	1
Passing Accuracy	80%	87%
Fouls Committed	16	7
Corners	7	6

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