Goals from Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson at the Vitality Stadium for the hosts meant Pep Guardiola’s side fell to defeat for the first time in 33 top-flight outings, a run stretching back to 6 December 2023.
Josko Gvardiol headed one goal back with just under ten minutes left to play, before Erling Haaland struck the post from close-range.
Phil Foden then arrowed an effort just wide of the post from 18 yards as an injury-hit City’s remarkable unbeaten league record came to an end.
Walker returned to the starting line up against the Cherries after missing four matches across all competitions, whilst numerous other first-team stars have also been nursing injuries.
Ballon d’Or winner Rodrigo has been ruled out for the remainder of the season, whilst Kevin De Bruyne, John Stones, Nathan Ake, Ruben Dias, Jack Grealish and Jeremy Doku have all spent time on the treatment table at the CFA, with Savinho and Manuel Akanji also picking up recent knocks.
“I don’t think we’re using that as an excuse,” said Walker. We’ve got players on the bench and players that started today that felt there were fit to start.
“We don’t use that as an excuse. We have to give full credit to Bournemouth and move on, move onto the next one.
“To come here and not get the win is always disappointing.”
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With the numerous absentees from the team and fatigue inevitably kicking in with the busy fixtures schedule, the Club captain felt that the team worked tirelessly for a positive result and used their emotion to push them through to the final whistle.
“Sometimes you have to play the game with emotion,” he said.
“Sometimes, when we’ve got the injuries we’ve got, and the lads are tired, and they [Bournemouth] have had six days to prepare for this game and everything like that, sometimes you need to play with your heart.
“I felt in the last ten minutes, we came back into it, but to go 2-0 down, it’s always going to be an uphill battle.”
