Manchester City ensured they reduced the Premier League point gap to two points following their 4-1 win over Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium.
After faltering against Nottingham Forest last week, and watching league leaders Arsenal hold on to beat Leicester 1-0, Pep Guardiola and his charges knew they had to produce a positive response.
That’s exactly what they did when they faced Gary O’Neal’s team as It only took them sixteen minutes to find the opener.
After dominating the game, Erling Haaland thought he’d given the defending Champions their opening goal, but the bar denied the Norwegian his 27th Premier League goal.
That though did not stop Man City from taking the lead as World Cup winner Julian Alvarez was at the right place and at the right time to tap in from close range.
Four minutes into the halftime, that 27th goal arrived. Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden combined to find Haaland who slotted home City’s second.
By scoring that goal, the 22-year-old was breaking the record for most Premier League goals scored by a Man City player in a single season. The record had been held by City legend Sergio Aguero who scored 26 in the 2014/15 season.
Foden, making his 200th appearance for City went a notch higher as he found his team’s third goal at the very end of the first half.
The visitors who have scored the most number of goals in the league this season (64) ran riot in this one. Alvarez thought he had completed his brace six minutes into the second half, but the goal was given as a Mepham own-goal following a deflection.
Jefferson Lerma pulled one back but it could only pass for a consolation.
Arsenal had opened a five point lead earlier on following their slim win over Brendan Rodgers’ team, but with this result, Man City remain second, two points behind the leaders and six points ahead of rivals Man United who are out of Premier League action this weekend due to a Carabao Cup engagement.
Bournemouth meanwhile remain stationed in the dreaded zone (19th) with 21 points.
