Man City 4-0 Bournemouth: Player ratings as champions cruise to dominant victory
By Tom Gott
Manchester City lived up to expectations on Saturday as they cruised to an emphatic 4-0 victory over Premier League newcomers Bournemouth.
Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden all netted in the first half, before an own goal from Jefferson Lerma compounded Bournemouth's misery after the break.
The City press was relentless from the first whistle, and after some half-chances, Foden saw a shot smartly saved by Mark Travers, who would have been helpless had the Englishman opted for a simple cut-back to Erling Haaland.
It took the champions 19 minutes to make the breakthrough. Some good hold-up play from Haaland set up Gundogan, who kept his composure to drive the ball past Travers and into the back of the net.
A rare foray into the City half saw Ben Pearson test Ederson with a decent strike from the edge of the box after some disruptive play from the towering Kieffer Moore, who will simply have been happy to have something to do.
Just as Bournemouth looked to be getting involved in the game, De Bruyne killed them off 31 minutes in with a superb outside-of-the-boot shot that curled between two defenders into the bottom corner.
The third came eight minutes before the break. De Bruyne played through Foden and the youngster benefitted from some good fortune as his strike was deflected and ended up going through Travers and into the back of the net.
City kept things up after the break, with De Bruyne drawing a smart save from Travers inside the first ten minutes before Gundogan bent a nice strike agonisingly wide of the post.
Haaland got the chance he was waiting for as Grealish cut the ball back to the Norwegian, who could only scuff his effort and fire wide with what ended up being his final touch of his home debut.
Things got a little scruffy as the game went on and there was definitely nothing pretty about City's fourth. Joao Cancelo's low cross struck Lerma and ricocheted into the back of the net without the defender even realising - a miserable end to a tough day at the office for Bournemouth.
Man City vs Bournemouth player ratings
1. Man City (4-3-3)
GK: Ederson - 6/10 - Had the odd save to make but was largely a spectator in the Manchester sun.
RB: Kyle Walker - 8/10 - Played more like a central midfielder and played some excellent passes, including a brilliant ball for the opening goal.
CB: Ruben Dias - 6/10 - Didn't have a whole lot to do but wasn't particularly comfortable when Moore went up for a battle.
CB: Nathan Ake - 7/10 - Cleared up whatever danger came his way and looked comfortable with the ball at his feet.
LB: Joao Cancelo - 6/10 - Definitely not as his best but still did enough to create the fourth.
DM: Rodri - 7/10 - With Walker in his usual role, Rodri played a little further forward and did well to recycle possession and feed his more-creative teammates.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne - 9/10 - Head and shoulders above Bournemouth. Played some ludicrous passes and his goal was sublime. Everything you've come to expect from him.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan - 8/10 - Seemed to be involved in absolutely everything. So many touches and smart runs. Took his goal well.
RW: Riyad Mahrez - 7/10 - Some typically excellent touches but not as involved as most of his teammates.
ST: Erling Haaland - 7/10 - Starved of touches once again but made a major impact just by his presence. A nice assist for Gundogan's opener as well.
LW: Phil Foden - 8/10 - A goal and an assist for Foden, who could have had another assist had he passed to Haaland early on.
SUB: Jack Grealish (46' for Foden) - 6/10 - A few nice moves but had to battle through an ankle issue for most of the half.
SUB: Bernardo Silva (64' for Gundogan) - 6/10 - Tried to make something happen but Bournemouth did well to deny him space.
SUB: John Stones (64' for Stones) - 6/10 - Barely had anything to do.
SUB: Julian Alvarez (74' for Haaland) - 6/10 - Buzzed around with energy but didn't get much done.
SUB: Rico Lewis (82' for Walker) - N/A
Manager: Pep Guardiola - 9/10 - One full-back was a midfielder and the other was a winger. Guardiola didn't waste effort on positions he knew Bournemouth wouldn't attack and sent Walker and Cancelo forward to add to the overload. Very smart.
2. Bournemouth (3-4-2-1)
GK: Mark Travers - 5/10 - Didn't get a whole lot wrong but there's not much you can do in these situations.
CB: Jefferson Lerma - 5/10 - Enjoyed his battle with Haaland. Predictably found it very tough but had the odd solid moment at the back.
CB: Chris Mepham - 4/10 - Couldn't keep up with all of City's movement.
CB: Lloyd Kelly - 3/10 - Had a really tough time up against De Bruyne. Bit on his body feints and just could not cope.
RM: Adam Smith - 3/10 - Looked visibly exhausted at half-time when he realised he had another 45 minutes of torment to endure. Lost his head in the final stages and had City players asking him to stop hitting them in the face.
CM: Ben Pearson - 5/10 - Can't fault the effort. Tried to get things happening but faced the steepest of uphill battles to do so.
CM: Lewis Cook - 4/10 - Had to do a lot of defending and was clearly out of his comfort zone.
LM: Jack Stacey - 4/10 - A really rough afternoon but another whose effort can't be questioned.
AM: Marcus Tavernier - 6/10 - A rare bright spark in Bournemouth's attack. Obviously didn't get many opportunities to strut his stuff but looked good when he did.
AM: Ryan Christie - 4/10 - An unreal piece of skill early in the second half was his primary contribution.
ST: Kieffer Moore - 5/10 - Put himself about well but had an impossible challenge of dragging his team forwards.
SUB: Junior Stanislas (63' for Christie) - 5/10 - Found it tough to get involved.
SUB: Philip Billing (63' for Cook) - 6/10 - Did a nice job of calming things down in the second half.
SUB: Marcos Sanesi (80' for Tavernier) - N/A
SUB: Jamal Lowe (90' for Moore) - N/A
Manager: Scott Parker - 5/10 - Bournemouth tried their best to play football but were undone by the fact that they were Bournemouth playing against Man City. Not many tactics will fix that.