Manchester City 3 AFC Bournemouth 1: match reportBlues see off Bournemouth for KDB’s last home appearance days after cup final defeat
Manchester City welcomed Bournemouth to the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday evening for the penultimate game of the Premier League season and their last home appearance. The match was just days after City succumbed to a disappointing cup final defeat to Crystal Palace, ending their chances of a trophy this season. They resumed service in the Premier League looking to bounce back with a win in the hunt for Champions League qualification. Ederson started in goal. Nunes, Akanji, Dias, and Gvardiol were the back four. Kovacic and Gundogan were in the holding midfield with Bernardo Silva, De Bruyne, and Marmoush in attacking midfield. Haaland was the sole striker.
The Blues took the lead within 19 minutes after a stunning strike from Marmoush, who shot from a very long way out and the ball flew off the cross bar and into the net. A late contender for goal of the season by all accounts. Five minutes later, City had the chance to double their lead when Bernardo crossed the ball into De Bruyne who had just an empty net to poke the ball into but the ball bobbled on its way and rattled off the cross bar. An agonizing miss for the midfielder on his final appearance.
Moments after, Bournemouth had an extremely close chance to equalise when a cross in from the left missed every City defender and found Evanilson who lunged for a shot but hit the post, much to the relief of the Blues. City then went on to finally get their two-goal cushion in the 43rd minute, when Gundogan passed it to Bernardo Silva on the right-hand side of the box who slotted it past Kepa easily, ensuring a comfortable lead at half time.
The second half was largely the same story with City still well in control. Bournemouth had their chances to get a goal back but couldn’t convert with Evanilson heading rises and Brooks mistiming a header. Semenyo took a shot at the near post, but it was blazed wide.
A scare came for the Blues in the 67th minute, when Kovacic committed a last man foul in the City half and was consequently sent off. The Blues were now down to 10 men opening an opportunity for Bournemouth to pile even more pressure. Soon after, the teams were level with players once again though, when Cook committed a nasty two-footed tackle on Gonzalez which was deemed excessive force by the referee, who once again got out his red card.
In the 84th minute, Gonzalez sealed the deal with a fantastic strike from outside the box after dribbling through the Bournemouth defence. 3-0 to City and 3 points secured. In the midst of a strong home performance to sign off at the Etihad for the season, City could still not keep a clean sheet unfortunately after a mistake from Nunes led Jebbison to be clean through and strike the ball in off Ederson to make it 3-1 the FT score.
Following the match, an emotional tribute was paid to De Bruyne by the management of the club and current and ex City stars. The crowd stayed to wish a heartfelt goodbye to arguably City’s greatest player of the Pep era and expressed full gratitude for his service to the club. City now have just one match remaining of what has generally been a rather unforgettable season. They will look for a win to seal Champions League qualification and put the season behind them and look to get back in the title race next season, with a big summer of business required from the board.
Archives