Bournemouth ended Manchester City‘s streak of 32 games without losing in the Premier League, defeated 2-1 with goals from Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson, enough to certify an insistent dominance that for 70 minutes caused the loss of the leadership of the citizen team .
Mexican Julián Araujo’s team, who remained on the substitutes’ bench for the entire match, had already won two days ago against Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal (2-0), to whom he gave the same medicine as Manchester City: suffocating pressure from above. , advanced lines, daring and zero speculation: Bournemouth always looks forward and even more so at the Vitality Stadium.
And it doesn’t matter the level of the rival, because in that stadium the greats also suffer. This was demonstrated by Arsenal, defeated just two days ago as a warning for Pep Guardiola’s men, who had a tough task ahead of them to maintain their hegemony at the top of the general table.
The loss of the Gunners in their visit to Newcastle (1-0) was also a major incentive for Manchester City, which could be seven points away from one of its possible biggest rivals for the title. But opposite, Bournemouth, it was a lot with Andoni Iraola on the bench and his board as the spearhead to deal another blow in the Premier League.
His team started without any type of complex and even less against one of the clubs of the so-called ‘Big Six’. Without any fear, from the opening whistle he launched himself for City. The bet was risky, but it had its effect very early on, when it marked territory with a double chance from Semenyo and Kulivert that Ederson thwarted with a double save that stopped Bournemouth.
The Brazilian was in charge of supporting his teammates for almost the entire game. They only gave way once, in the 10th minute, when Milos Kerkez got rid of Phil Foden on the left side and reached the byline to place the ball on the penalty spot. That’s where Semenyo appeared, who opened the scoring for Bournemouth on the turn.
Iraola’s team was comfortable navigating the grass of the Vitality Stadium and with the success of Semenyo their idea was reinforced. Meanwhile, Manchester City was stuck in a desperate thicket for Guardiola, who from the bench saw how his men insisted on the center, with Ilkay Gündogan lacking depth, as well as Bernardo Silva, Foden and Mateus Nunes.
Manchester City started the second half like the first, absolutely condemned by Bournemouth’s pressure and with another extra life thanks to another save by Ederson against Evanilson after a tackle by Semenyo. The Brazilian goalkeeper was determined to support his teammates, who took advantage of the saves from the only Citizens player.
City seemed to throw in the towel definitively with half an hour remaining; and the agitator was once again Kerkez, who added another assist after another entry from the left side that ended with a cross to the heart finished into the net by Evanilson.
Bournemouth players after scoring against Manchester City (Reuters)
What position is Manchester City in?
With twenty minutes left, City, desperate, finally reacted and cornered Bournemouth, who felt the true strain of an injured team after a header from Josko Gvardiol that closed the gap with eight minutes remaining. With Doku on the grass, Haaland was able to tie at the buzzer with a double attempt that Travers first saved thanks to a save and then, on the rebound, crashed against the post.
The Norwegian’s opportunity was the swan song for City, who at least died on the verge of a draw. But, on points, during the rest of the game, Bournemouth won to add three well-deserved points.
In this way, Manchester City experienced the first defeat in its history in the Premier League against the team from the south of England. And the thing is, the leader, with Liverpool’s victory, is no longer the leader. They fell to second position because of a team capable of shaking up the consistency of any rival.
