Erling Haaland returned to the Manchester City squad in style by scoring twice inside 16 minutes as Pep Guardiola’s side surged to a deserved victory over Bournemouth in the Premier League, taking them to second in the top-flight table.
The Norwegian was rested for City’s midweek trip to Swansea City in the League Cup, but it only seems like that absence made him hungrier for goals, with his first coming after 17 minutes on Sunday.
Haaland was played through by Rayan Cherki before finishing past Djordje Petrovic with a left-footed strike. Then, after 33 minutes, he struck again when he took it past the Bournemouth goalkeeper, finishing into the empty net.
An earlier goal by Tyler Adams enhanced an already intriguing first period, but Nico O’Reilly settled the tension on the hour to give City a two-goal lead and submit an unassailable lead that the Cherries failed to dismantle.
This victory for City gives them a lift in the Premier League table, where they leapfrogged Bournemouth into second in an important win for Guardiola's side.
Story of the Match
Bournemouth achieving their greatest ever start to a Premier League season has been one of the most eye-catching parts of this campaign so far, but something that, perhaps, overtakes that in both magnificence and distinction is City’s star man, Haaland.
Two goals inside 16 first-half minutes gave the Norwegian a taste for scoring once again after shooting blank against Aston Villa last weekend, despite scoring an offside goal before being rested against Swansea City in midweek.
City were knocking on the door in the earlier stages, with Phil Foden and Haaland both having shots towards Petrovic blocked. The Bournemouth goalkeeper never found a test until the 17th minute, when Haaland broke free on the back of an outstanding run of play from Guardiola’s side.
Adams capitalised on Donnarumma's mistake to level the scoring (Photo by Carl Recine/Getty Images)
Nico Gonzalez started with possession deep into the City half before flicking a ball over to Rayan Cherki, who did just as well with his head to invite Haaland through at the halfway line.
There was never really a way back in for Bournemouth, and more particularly Adrien Truffert, who was tracking back, as Haaland drove to goal in the clear with one aim; an aim that he executed masterfully when finishing past Petrovic for his 25th goal of the season for club and county.
To the dismay of the away side, Haaland didn’t stop his scoring, and before long, he added a second, but it was Bournemouth who managed to knock Guardiola’s side off their high horse for a matter of minutes when Adams scored after 25 minutes.
The American capitalised on an awkward and ultimately embarrassing attempt from**Gianluigi Donnarumma** when he tried to punch clear a pinpoint corner by**Alex Scott.** Adams reacted quickly to sink the equaliser, though celebrations wouldn’t last.
Haaland, who was gifted by some outstanding one-touch football from Gonzalez, Foden and Cherki, managed to collect the ball from the middle, around 24 yards from goal, before cutting in front of Diakite to open up the chance to shoot on goal without contest.
Haaland did the robot celebration after his first goal (Photo by Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images)
Only when Petrovic was rushing off his line to try and snatch the ball was when Haaland cleverly took it past the goalkeeper before sticking it into the empty net for his double — he could have even scored another had Petrovic not palmed a lifted effort away from the net only four minutes later to deny a 20-minute hat-trick.
O’Reilly, too, was in a similar position for a chance only a minute after Haaland’s second, but defender Alex Jimenez cleared off the line in a timely effort to keep the scoreline 2-1 up to that point.
It’s a fact that City are struggling to score when Haaland isn’t involved, but they found no trouble for their third of the night. O’Reilly, after receiving the ball from the centre, set himself up from 14 yards before fizzing his strike low and hard into the bottom right corner.
Despite City’s onslaught, Bournemouth had the better start to this game, and by some margin. Inside the opening 46 seconds, the Cherries’ wonderkid, Eli Junior Kroupi, tapped in from a well-worked David Brooks cross but was found offside moments before his conversion.