MANCHESTER, England (AP) — It seems that Pep Guardiola found another gem with winger Jeremy Doku.
The young Belgian inspired Manchester City’s 6-1 win over Bournemouth on Saturday in the Premier League.
“Jeremy has been fantastic. “Sometimes you need individual quality to open the game,” said City defender Nathan Ake. “He is not afraid to show his abilities, he wants to surpass everyone even in training. It is very difficult to mark it. He is going to be important this season.”
Doku, who signed this summer for $68 million from Rennes, had to wait for an opportunity with a star-studded City side.
But he showed his quality against Bournemouth at the Etihad Stadium, scoring one goal and assisting in four others as the defending champions temporarily moved to the top of the standings.
Doku opened the scoring in the 30th minute and set up Bernardo Silva to extend City’s lead three minutes later.
Doku thought he had scored his second to make it 3-0 in the 37th, but replay showed his shot deflected off Manuel Akanji.
In the complementary part he sent the ball to Phil Foden for City’s fourth goal in the 64th and later assisted Silva to achieve his second goal in the 83rd.
Bournemouth substitute, Colombian Luis Sinisterra scored the consolation goal for the visitors in the 74th minute.
Ake completed the win with a header in the 88th minute.
With this victory, City extended their perfect streak at home in all competitions to momentarily surpass Tottenham, who plays against Chelsea on Monday, and Arsenal, who lost 1-0 on their visit to Newcastle.
DISGUSTED GUNNERS
Mikel Arteta, Arsenal’s Spanish strategist, was furious after a lengthy video arbitration (VAR) review validated Anthony Gordon’s goal in the 64th minute.
With this, Newcastle won by the minimum.
VAR was consulted to determine whether any of three possible violations had occurred before the goal was awarded. One possibility was that the ball had gone out of bounds, another pointed to a possible foul and the third to an alleged offside.
In the end the goal was scored and it was decisive.
“I have been in this country for 20 years and now I feel ashamed. It is a disgrace, and there is a lot at stake here,” Arteta commented. “It’s not good enough. “I feel ashamed to be part of this.”
IT RECOVERS
Bruno Fernandes scored in added time as Manchester United beat Fulham 1-0 and took some of the pressure off manager Erik ten Hag.
Fernandes capitalized on a missed clearance by fellow Portuguese João Palhinha with a low shot from the edge of the area in the opening seconds of added time at Craven Cottage.
United bounced back after back-to-back 3-0 defeats to Manchester City and Newcastle in the last week. The setbacks had left Ten Hag in one of the biggest crises since he took the reins in the summer of 2022.
There are still important games to come. The first is the Champions League duel on Wednesday against Copenhagen.
FINALLY WIN
Sheffield United converted a penalty in the tenth minute of stoppage time to get their first win of the season by beating Wolverhampton 2-1.
But Sheffield, who were promoted from the Championship, remain bottom of the standings on goal difference.
In other matches, Brentford beat West Ham 3-2, Crystal Palace beat Burnley 2-0 on the road and Everton drew 1-1 with Brighton.
2023-11-04 23:26:38
#Guardiola #finds #gem #Doku #shines #Citys #win #Bournemouth
