Man City's unbeaten streak ends at Bournemouth
Bournemouth’s Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson got on the scoresheet as the hosts held on for a stunning 2-1 victory over champions Manchester City on Saturday, ending the visitors’ unbeaten streak in the Premier League at 32 games.
The loss dropped Pep Guardiola’s City –who had not lost in the league since a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Dec. 6, 2023 — to second in the table with 23 points after 10 matches, two points behind Liverpool.
Andoni Iraola’s side climbed to eighth on 15 points with the first victory over City in the club’s history.
Bournemouth were rewarded for their strong start with Semenyo’s ninth-minute goal. Milos Kerkez superbly worked the ball up the left side to the byline before sending a low cross to Semenyo, who turned and beat goalkeeper Éderson.
Evanilson doubled the lead in the 64th when he latched onto Kerkez’s cross and slotted home.
Photo by Catherine Ivill – AMA/Getty Images
City, who have been struggling with injuries to key players, created a nervy finish after pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute when Josko Gvardiol leapt to meet Ilkay Gündogan‘s cross, his looping header pushed in off the bar by Mark Travers.
That came two minutes after City’s scoring machine Erling Haaland had his side’s first shot on target and the visitors kept the pressure on Travers and Bournemouth’s defence in the dying minutes.
Travers made a terrific save in added time to help secure Bournemouth’s win when he stopped Haaland’s last-gasp header from close range. The striker then fired his own rebound off the post.
“We knew we couldn’t match the intensity,” said Guardiola. “We have talked about it. It was an open game. We had chances at the end but I congratulate Bournemouth for the victory.”
City have been hampered by a long list of injuries, although winger Jérémy Doku made a surprise return and the second-half substitute instantly made his presence felt.
Neither captain Kyle Walker nor key midfielder Kevin de Bruyne were expected to play either but the former started and the latter returned to the bench.
Phil Foden also had a decent chance for City but dragged his shot wide of the net in the second half.
Haaland went down after a challenge from Lewis Cook just before the hour but VAR determined it was a fair tackle. The Norwegian was on the ground for several minutes receiving treatment before continuing but could not find the net.
