Bournemouth pushes Manchester City to the limit but Phil Foden's goal is enough | first division

This was one of those games where Pep Guardiola's body language told almost the entire story. city ​​of manchester He may have reduced Liverpool's lead at the top to some extent, but his inadvertently chosen weapon here was more scissors than sledgehammer. The sight of Guardiola crouched on the edge of his technical area, looking uneasily either side of assistant referee Darren Cann to analyze the image as Bournemouth reached the breaking point in search of an equalizer provided a snapshot of just how uncomfortable this trip turned out to be.

Guardiola's nervous energy has good reason. They are apparently in a three-way title race and he spent much of his post-match press conference with one eye on a television at the back of the room showing Arsenal's clash with Newcastle. City have their sights set on winning a sixth first division title in seven seasons and their quest to win a second Champions League will resume against Copenhagen next month. Then there's the FA Cup, a fifth-round trip to Luton next Tuesday.

“They are supermen,” Guardiola said of his players. “Our fans have to be very proud of these guys. Bournemouth I had seven days to prepare, seven days to dream of beating the best team in the world. We had three. The calendar is very demanding, the expectations are very high.”

City, beaten once since October, are a formidable force but Bournemouth did not shrink from the challenge and found holes in the champions, with Marcus Tavernier missing two chances to restore parity. Phil Foden scored the only goal midway through the first half and with Erling Haaland unusually forceful in attack, in the end Guardiola felt the need to introduce Kevin De Bruyne, back from a bothersome hamstring injury, with six minutes of the regulation time left to play. Even after that, Bournemouth substitutes Dango Ouattara and Enes Unal came close to replying, the latter going wide. Bernardo Silva felt obliged to commit a crude tactical foul on the advancing Antoine Semenyo as added time approached. Bournemouth are winless in seven games but should be encouraged to take the champions all the way.

Bournemouth have a dismal record against City (they have lost all 14 of their top-flight games by an aggregate score of 45-7), but there was never any danger of a repeat. 6-1 win at the Etihad Stadium in November. Haaland was thwarted in his efforts to score in the second half, Illia Zabarnyi had his shot blocked from an acute angle after the striker hit him inside the area, and Bournemouth were inches away from equalizing long before their final burst of goal. goals. odds. Ederson saved Dominic Solanke's header in the 67th minute after a diabolical corner from Tavernier behind his goal line.

The first big opportunity fell to Haaland in the ninth minute, but the striker wasted his lines. Guardiola turned in disbelief and ran his fingers over his cheeks after Haaland, away from Marcos Senesi, fired just yards from the edge of the D after Foden had exquisitely slotted him into the goal. Haaland, however, had a big influence on City taking the lead. Mateo Kovacic put the ball at Haaland's feet and the forward, unbalanced after sneaking through Senesi's goal, shot toward the goal with his left foot. Neto saved Haaland's shot but Foden took advantage of the rebound from close range. At the time, the City fans were having fun, singing their catalog of songs about their – increasingly rowdy – neighbours. “He (Foden) has become a top-level football player,” Guardiola said. “Before he was a little boy and now he is a top world-class player. He can play everywhere, but especially in central positions he is really good.”

Guardiola had plenty of advantages, with John Stones excellent and Rodri typically classy at the base of midfield. But City also had to suffer and Guardiola kicked the cooler in the corner of their technical area as Bournemouth searched for an equalizer at the end of the first half. Guardiola is eternally in search of perfection, but he must have felt comforted to see Rodri, shirt-tucked in, linking attacks in one breath and extinguishing Bournemouth's attacks in another. Before City took the lead, it was Rodri who passed the ball to Haaland inside the Bournemouth 18-yard box, but the striker refused to take the shot and instead located Matheus Nunes, whose cut-back was cleared.

Bournemouth should have equalized 10 minutes into the second half. Semenyo flew past Nathan Aké, signed from Bournemouth four years ago, and squared the ball in search of a teammate. Semenyo's cross bounced into the small area and reached the feet of Tavernier, who missed his shot and allowed Rúben Dias to head it in.

That episode should have alarmed City, but a few minutes later Tavernier shot wide after Solanke superbly protected the ball from a nearby Dias. Bournemouth simply wouldn't budge. “We can't ask much more from the players in terms of effort,” said Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola. “We were very close to getting something out of the game. “You have to be good inside the box against City and we weren’t good enough.”