Erling Haaland set Manchester City’s single-season record for goals in a Premier League season as his 27th goal helped guide a 4-1 defeat of Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Saturday.
Man City remains two points behind Arsenal, who has a match-in-hand it will play at midweek against Everton. City and Arsenal meet again at the Etihad Stadium on April 26.
WATCH BOURNEMOUTH vs MANCHESTER CITY FULL MATCH REPLAY STREAM - LINK
It was a cakewalk for City, as Phil Foden had a goal and an assist and Julian Alvarez scored and provoked a Chris Mepham own goal while Jefferson Lerma scored the Cherries only goal.
City was able to hand a debut off the bench to January signing Maximo Perrone, while Kalvin Phillips and Sergio Gomez also got valuable minutes as subs.
Bournemouth sits 19th with 21 points, one behind 17th-place Leeds United.
[ MORE: How to watch Premier League in USA ]
Simple as this: Bournemouth is rarely gonna handle Man City
Bournemouth’s attack has looked a lot better of late, and Dango Ouattara is either going to help the Cherries stay up or he’s going to be on another Premier League team next season.
But City usually finishes plenty of the chances it produces, and City was essentially rifling through Bournemouth’s pockets with its shots deep in the Cherries’ box.
Yeah that makes for a short recap: If Erling Haaland, Phil Foden, Julian Alvarez, and Ilkay Gundogan show up as lively as they did against a bottom-half Premier League side -- home or away -- it’s only going to go one way, 99 times out of 100.
Bournemouth vs Manchester City player ratings: Stars of the Show
Phil Foden
Erling Haaland
Rodri
Rico Lewis
Jefferson Lerma
Manuel Akanji
What’s next?
Man City’s got a Robin attack, heading to Bristol City for a Tuesday match in the FA Cup, before hosting Newcastle United for the early 7:30am ET kickoff on Saturday.
The Cherries can go from Man City obstacle to helper, as Bournemouth’s off to Arsenal at 10am ET Saturday.
Julian Alvarez goal video: City strikes first off rebound
Erling Haaland goal video: Gundogan, Foden cue up big Norwegian
Phil Foden goal video: City’s Phil assisted by Bournemouth’s Phil
Chris Mepham own goal video: Half-clearance smashed, deflected
Jefferson Lerma goal video: Bournemouth snaps one back off rare Dias misplay
How to watch Bournemouth vs Manchester City live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 12:30 pm ET, Saturday TV: USA Network Online: Stream via NBCSports.com
Key storylines & star players
Just three days prior to dropping points against Forest, Manchester City looked to have once again asserted their dominance over the rest of the Premier League as they dispatched Arsenal, on the Gunners’ home patch, to go back atop the table by way of goal difference on Wednesday. But Saturday turned out to be a day of swings and roundabouts, as Arsenal overturned a pair of one-goal deficits to win 4-2 away to Aston Villa, and Man City let a 1-0 lead slip away in the 84th minute. There was further disappointment in the UEFA Champions League this week (another blown lead and 1-1 draw, away to RB Leipzig on Wednesday) as Kevin De Bruyne missed out through illness and Erling Haaland was held without a goal for the fifth time in six games (all competitions).
On one hand, no one has conceded more goals than Bournemouth this season (44 in 23 games). On the other hand, the Cherries have conceded just 28 in 19 games since Scott Parker was fired following the 9-0 defeat to Liverpool (and the 3-0 defeat to Arsenal, and the 4-0 defeat to Man City, in successive games). Problems still persist at the other end of the field, though, where Bournemouth haven’t scored multiple goals in a game since Nov. 12. In fact, they have scored just three times in eight games since beating Everton 3-0 in their final game prior to the World Cup break.
Bournemouth team news, injuries, lineup options
OUT: Lewis Cook (knee), David Brooks (thigh), Lloyd Kelly (calf), Marcus Tavernier (thigh), Junior Stanislas (undisclosed), Illia Zabarnyi (foot).
📝 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 📝
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) February 25, 2023
🔺 One change
🔺 Mepham comes in
🔺 Tavernier ruled out
We're all set for #BOUMCI 👊👊 pic.twitter.com/pjYeT0ygt0
Manchester City team news, injuries, lineup options
OUT: John Stones (thigh), Benjamin Mendy (suspension - MORE), Aymeric Laporte (illness)
🐝 𝗧𝗘𝗔𝗠 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦 🐝
— Manchester City (@ManCity) February 25, 2023
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Ake, Rodrigo, Gundogan (C), Foden, Grealish, Alvarez, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Carson, Walker, Phillips, De Bruyne, Bernardo, Gomez, Mahrez, Perrone#ManCity | @HaysWorldwide pic.twitter.com/CS5KaXVLNg