Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth Review

Premier League GW37

Coming off a cup final defeat, knowing that this game was crucial for the Champions League finish, and it was the last home game for De Bruyne, put a lot of pressure on the team to perform. A difficult opposition who’ve had a good season and punished Manchester City at their ground. The team performed. Baiting and playing through the Bournemouth press to create chances.

MOTM: BERNARDO SILVA

Notable Stats:

• Since Opta has the metric on record (2003-04), no player has created more chances for their teammates in the Premier League than Kevin De Bruyne.

• Rodri plays his first minutes for Manchester City since Arsenal (H) on the 22nd of September 2024.

• Josko Gvardiol has completed 90 minutes forty-four times this season. That's more than Jack Grealish (9), John Stones (8), Nathan Ake (3), and Phil Foden (14) combined.

• Mateo Kovacic picks up his first red card in the Premier League in his career.

• Manchester City are now unbeaten in the last nine Premier League matches, equaling their nine-game unbeaten run at the start of the season.

Game Stats:

Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth

• xG: 1.60 - 1.06

• xThreat: 1.49 - 1.05

• Possession: 57.0% - 43.0%

• Field Tilt: 59.1% - 40.9%

• Penalty Box Shots: 6 - 9

• Deep Entries: 12 - 11

• PPDA: 12.1 - 17.5

• High Turnovers: 4 - 7

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

It’s normal to see a mixture of worry, panic, and confusion at Manchester City's starting lineup, but the last several Premier League matches have settled that down. To a degree. Similar lineup and approach to what we’ve seen in a few home matches against top high-pressing teams. Not looking to box them, leave the space behind, and bait the press. Jeremy Doku, O’Reilly, and Savinho drop out. Ederson returns with Gundogan, Nunes, and Kovacic.

In the first half, you frequently saw Manchester City players vacate the middle of the pitch, bait the Bournemouth press, and then play through that central space. Whether it's Mateo Kovacic driving into the space, or him finding Omar Marmoush dropping to receive the ball.

Here is an excellent comp of Manchester City in the first half, just cutting through Bournemouth. 👇

O. Marmoush 14' 1-0  

For the opening goal, it was the latter. Both full-backs pushed high and wide. Bernardo Silva is dropping deeper on the right side. Gundogan is making a run towards the back line. Kovacic is dropping alongside Akanji. Omar Marmoush spots that space, drops into it so deep that the central defender isn't comfortable following him. Driving forward after receiving the ball.

Producing an excellent finish from outside the box into the top left corner. No other goal by Manchester City this season has the shot been taken further out than that. One hell of a dip on the ball as it arrives to sneak under the bar. Maybe the best goal I’ve seen scored at the Etihad?

B. Silva 38' 2-0  

The second goal Manchester City scored comes from their persistence in attacking the Bournemouth box. Starting with the turnover, Kovacic wins the ball and passes to Bernardo. To Haaland, De Bruyne, and eventually to Ilkay Gundogan on the left side.

There wasn't a good opportunity for him to cross, so he pauses, lays it off to De Bruyne, who looks for a cross, but still there isn't a good run at the right time to pick out. Passes inside to Mateo Kovacic, who switches it across to Matheus Nunes. Playing a 1-2 with Bernardo, making the underlapping run into the box and cutting it back.

Doesn't work; ball gets cleared. Kovacic fires it back into Gundogan, whose loose touch goes into space inside the box. Huijsen attempts to cover, but Gundogan passes it back inside to Bernardo Silva to finish near post.

In the second half, Josko Gvardiol makes a poor pass backward that leaves Mateo Kovacic with a decision to make. He gives him a pull, the Bournemouth player goes down, and off Kovacic goes for a last-man professional foul. Maybe a touch soft, but all the focus is on the poor pass from Gvardiol.

He’s not made an error leading to a shot since moving to CB in the recent run; all of his previous ones came at left-back during the middle section of the season. I don’t think it’ll be an issue if he plays CB as a starter next season, but it's something he’s got to make sure is cut out.

On came Nico Gonzalez (69’) for Kevin De Bruyne as a result of that red card, getting his well-deserved ovation from the fans. Nico is looking to shore up the team as they shift to sit off Bournemouth and cut off passes through the middle. Applying some pressure with Haaland, but not much.

That period didn’t last too long as Cook (73’) made a poor challenge on Nico to get himself a straight red. Making the teams even again and City got back on the ball.

The second ovation came as Rodri (83’) returned to the pitch, as Erling Haaland came off, we got our first look at a Nico-Rodri double pivot as they aimed to see out the match.

N. González 89' 3-0 

Dias is looking to bait the Bournemouth players' press, passing to Nunes, who's able to turn and drive the gap between two of them. Passing into Marmoush for a 1-2 as he drops. Nico Gonzalez spots the space left by Zabarnyi and makes the run into it. Nunes makes a lovely chipped pass over the top.

Nico does well to bring the ball under control, twists the defender as he comes inside initially, then back onto his right foot with space to shoot.

D. Jebbison 90’+6 3-1

From one full-back mistake to another, Nunes plays a poor pass back to Ruben Dias, leaving an opening for Jebbison to drive into, pick up the ball, and score. This game summed up how Matheus has done at full-back, very well across the ninety minutes, but still has that mistake in him to cut out.

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Moving Forward

The first half was a top performance, not perfect by any stretch, but how the team played through Bournemouth so easily was impressive. Number of good chances that didn’t turn into shots. Huge chance for De Bruyne hitting the bar. Against a team that City struggled against last year. Omar Marmoush is a superstar in the making, if he’s not already, and I‘m excited to see how he does next season.

As well as they’ve done, I think an upgrade in the full-backs next season, more legs in midfield through new/returning players, is going to make a huge difference in covering up the gaps Bournemouth exposed into a couple of half-chances.

Kevin De Bruyne had his final sendoff from the club in his last home match, and I must say credit to the club for nailing that presentation. Credit to all the fans who stayed behind late on Tuesday night to give him that reception. An emotional night for him, players, staff, and all Manchester City fans. If you haven’t already, check out this video below.

Rodri was, unsurprisingly, looking off the pace and reluctant to throw himself into challenges. It’s the first step in his return to full fitness, and it’s good to see him get those minutes under his belt. Could get some more on Sunday. The Club World Cup will be a very useful tournament for his recovery, easing him into more minutes.

Speaking of the Club World Cup, I’ve contributed to The Copa Club guide for the tournament, which you can buy through the link below. In there, you’ll find an introduction to every team at the tournament. 👇

Next up for Manchester City is Fulham (A) in their last Premier League match of the season, and a chance to confirm their place in the Champions League next season. There are ways in which a point will do it through a superior goal difference, but really, the team should be going there only to win. Fulham do not have a European spot to fight for and can move up one spot depending on the Brentford result. Little motivation for them, although it never works out that way, as we know.