City see off Bournemouth on a day of milestones

In our 200th away victory in the Premier League, Julian Alvarez opened the scoring on 15 minutes, finishing from close-range after Erling Haaland’s effort cannoned off the bar to him.

Haaland, meanwhile, doubled our advantage on 29 minutes, becoming in the process the player with the most goals scored in a single Premier League season for City.

He took his tally to 27 Premier League goals with another finish from close-range, following good build-up play from Ilkay Gundogan and Phil Foden, meaning he’s now one ahead of Sergio Aguero’s final tally from 2014/15.

Foden, on his 200th appearance for the sky blues, made it three on 45 minutes, moments before half-time, finishing expertly after being played in by a stray pass from Philip Billing.

Alvarez fired off Chris Mepham and past goalkeeper Neto on 51 minutes after a spot of pinball in the box.

MATCH GALLERY | BOURNEMOUTH 1-4 CITY

Jefferson Lerma did pull one back for the hosts on 83 minutes but it was merely a late consolation.

Of the milestone 200 away wins, our first 100 victories came in 337 games between 1992 and 2014 while our last 100 have taken us just 157 games.

Today’s victory also helped us keep up our 100% record against Bournemouth in the Premier League, winning all 12 of our games against the Cherries.

WHAT HAPPENED

City have been guilty of not taking our chances in the past few games – but that certainly wasn’t the case on the south coast.

Pep Guardiola’s men dominated proceedings and got their rewards, too.

The effort and endeavour on show was there from the off, a second minute corner from Foden narrowly evading the lurking Rodri at the back post.

Rodri, a powerful presence in the middle of the park once again, tried his luck from 35 yards out on seven minutes but the effort flew over Neto’s bar.

Foden, a constant menace, was crowded out on 11 minutes as he looked to get a shot off in the box following impressive build-up play from Jack Grealish and Rodri, once again.

Neto did well to claim the ball with Haaland bearing down on him on 13 minutes after an arrowed ball over the top of the Cherries defence freed the striker.

Alvarez, recalled to the side, opened the scoring on 15 minutes – and he should thank Rico Lewis for his work in the build-up.

The right-back, who excelled in the central ground too, won the ball in the middle to start a move that eventually saw Gundogan play the ball to Foden who cushioned it to Haaland.

The striker smashed it against the bar and it then fell perfectly to Alvarez who prodded home for his fifth Premier League goal of the season – and his 10th in all competitions.

Ruben Dias headed marginally wide on 21 minutes with an effort from a Foden corner on the left.

LEWIS REACTION | BOURNEMOUTH 1-4 CITY

Pep Guardiola hailed Bournemouth as ‘intense’ in his pre-match press conference and it’s fair to say that the hosts didn’t crumble after the goal.

Jordan Zemura’s cross-cum-shot from the left on 23 minutes was well gathered by the alert Ederson and three minutes later, referee Paul Tierney waved away appeals as Dominic Solanke claimed a penalty for a push in the box.

But City doubled our advantage as Haaland made no mistake on 29 minutes, firing home after a clever pass across the box to him by Foden, who had been played through himself by captain Gundogan.

The Cherries came back again, though - Lerma blasting high and handsome from 30 yards on 32 minutes, Jack Stephens having a fierce 30 yard drive headed over the bar by the reliable Ruben Dias on 37 minutes and Ederson doing well to palm away a Hamed Traore effort close to the byline moments later.

City put ourselves even more in control on the stroke of half-time, Foden finishing with aplomb after being put through by an errant Billing pass across the pitch to make it 0-3 at the break.

Guardiola’s men swarmed all over the Cherries at the start of the second half and it was 0-4 on 50 minutes, Alvarez firing a shot against defender Mepham and past goalkeeper Neto from close-range after a spot of pinball in the box.

City made two substitutes on 55 minutes, Kalvin Phillips and Sergio Gomez replacing Rodri and Gundogan as Guardiola freshened things up following an intense spell of games and travelling.

Foden and Alvarez, at the heart of everything for the visitors, played an intricate one-two in the box on the hour mark and it popped up for former Cherry Nathan Ake on the edge of the box. He hit it strongly towards goal but it was held by Neto.

There were another couple of changes on 71 minutes, Riyad Mahrez and Maximo Perrone – for his City debut - replacing Grealish and Haaland.

Gomez, an earlier substitute, almost scored his first goal for City a minute later but his 25 yard strike from the left channel cannoned over the bar.

GUARDIOLA REACTION | BOURNEMOUTH 1-4 CITY

Ake received a fine ovation from home and away supporters alike as he came off for Kyle Walker on 80 minutes.

Moments later, Lewis eyed his first Premier League goal as he looked to slot home inside the box but the ball cannoned away from danger.

Lerma gave the home fans something to cheer on 83 minutes as he reduced arrears, blasting past Ederson in the box.

Jaidon Anthony fired just wide on 90 minutes but, after three added minutes, City collected a very comfortable and happy three points.

WATCH: Short highlights: Bournemouth 1-4 City

TEAMS

BOURNEMOUTH XI: Neto, Smith (Fredericks 59’), Mepham, Stephens, Senesi, Zemura, Lerma, Billing (Rothwell 59’), Ouattara, Traore (Anthony 76’), Solanke.

Unused subs: Christie, Stacey, Moore, Semenyo, Travers, Randolph.

CITY XI: Ederson, Lewis, Akanji, Dias, Ake (Walker 80’), Rodrigo (Phillips 55’), Gundogan (Gomez 55’), Foden, Grealish (Mahrez 72’), Alvarez, Haaland (Perrone 72’)

Unused subs: Ortega Moreno, Carson, De Bruyne, Bernardo

200 UP FOR FODEN

Congratulations to Phil Foden who today reached 200 senior games for City.

Our academy graduate, who has already won four Premier League titles, the FA Cup, four Carabao Cups and two Community Shields, hit the milestone in the 4-1 win at Bournemouth, scoring our third goal in the process on the stroke of half-time.

Foden made his debut for Pep Guardiola‘s side in November 2017.

Everyone at Manchester City congratulates Phil on this landmark moment.

GUARDIOLA REACTION

“Yes it’s important to get back to winning games.

“I’m very pleased with what I see and what I’m seeing every day.

“The mood in the locker room is exceptional the training sessions are really, really good and everyone is helping each other.

“It’s tough because we have played a lot of games away this month a lot.

“No recovery, every three days games and big travels a lot of pressure and demands physicality.

“Today to come here and perform the way we played made me feel we still have the desire to try.

“We will try to fight for this Premier League I dont have any doubts.”

LEWIS REACTION

“The best thing to do to come back from a few poor results is to win.

“We are gutted not to get a clean sheet but it sends out a message.

“The early goal set the tone and we could have had more in the end.

“I love playing in this role. I have played as a midfielder before and then been a full-back so I love it.

“I have played there all the way through the academy but with these players around you it’s 10 times easier.

“I got my rhythm quickly and did as well as I could. Pep just tells me to play my normal game but asks me to go inside alongside Rodri, to give us more control of the midfield. It’s about winning the ball back on the transition.

“It’s nice that he wants to play me and trusts me, it’s up to me to perform.”

WATCH: Alvarez elated for ‘important’ Foden

WHAT IT MEANS

City moved to within two points of Arsenal following the 4-1 win over Bournemouth.

The Gunners were five clear after a 1-0 victory at Leicester, the 47th minute goal coming courtesy of Gabriel Martinelli.

But our victory in the late game ensured we ended the same amount of points behind as we started it.

Mikel Arteta’s side have a game in hand and are next in top-flight action on Wednesday, kick-off 19:45 (UK time) with a home clash against Everton, who are fighting for survival at the foot of the table.

We are in FA Cup action next week, on Tuesday at Bristol City, before returning to Premier League action against Newcastle United on Saturday, kick-off 12:30 (UK time).

WHAT’S NEXT

After our Champions League match at Leipzig and our Premier League clash at Bournemouth, it’s time for another competition in our next game on the road – the FA Cup.

We travel to Bristol City on Tuesday 28 February for a 20:00 (UK time) at Ashton Gate.

It’s a Round Five encounter and we’ve reached this stage of the competition by defeating Chelsea (4-0) and Arsenal (1-0).

This is the first ever meeting between the two clubs in this competition.