Fans of Manchester City almost never hear that song, so you could understand why Bournemouth fans were so excited after beating the Premier League winners. This proof means that Andoni Iraola’s side will have to wait in line.
The Blues’ perfect streak ended last week when they lost to Spurs in the cup. This was their first league loss of the season, which really showed how bad things are for them. After Arsenal’s 2-1 loss to Newcastle at lunchtime, some might have thought the title race was over. However, City never looked like giving up, even after Josko Gvardiol scored a late comeback goal as they lost 2-1.
The home team did not necessarily want it more but ran harder for it, which is another thing you do not usually see from a Guardiola team. City played badly and got exactly what it deserved. The boss got angry on the sidelines, but even he kept his temper in check because the team is having such a hard time right now.
The long list of injuries that does not seem to be getting better is making Guardiola more and more angry. Last week, City’s boss told his stars that they had to play through the pain. However, John Stones and Ruben Dias joined Kyle Walker, Kevin De Bruyne, and Jeremy Doku in missing the game against Bournemouth.
There is not much that can be done, though. City is not the only team that has injuries, and the problem is made worse by the fact that Guardiola likes having a small group. Recently released data showed that the players have played more than 60 games each season since 2018. Not only were seven of the top 10 City players there, but four of them—Bernie Silva, Phil Foden, Ilkay Gundogan, and Ederson—began their careers at the Vitality, so this is not even new.
Of course, that does not make it easy to get around, especially on a rainy day on the south coast against Bournemouth, who beat Arsenal here earlier this season. They are much better now that they have Iraola, and it was not a surprise when Bournemouth scored the first goal after Ederson made two saves in the second minute.
Antoine Semenyo held off Josko Gvardiol so he could turn and put the ball in the far corner, which made the home fans very happy. There was no way for City players to say they were late, but they were just that important split second behind.
After falling behind early in the season, City has become very good at waiting for their chances and scoring when it counts. There were signs of that against Bournemouth, but as soon as something good started to take shape, it was destroyed by one or two Bournemouth passes. This season, it has often taken longer for City to break down a team than for them to be broken.
It said a lot when City’s second-half pressure failed and Walker made a mess of getting the ball, giving it to Semenyo, then fouling him and punching the ball out of anger. While Rico Lewis came on for Nathan Ake, Guardiola signaled to his bench that Ake could not play on.
City was already down 2-0 after Evanilson scored from a Kerkez cross in the middle of the second half. It looked like City’s bucket had too many holes to keep it from emptying.
Gvardiol scored another amazing goal with a powerful header in the last 15 minutes, which made the game more interesting. The Bournemouth boos stopped during a tense stoppage time period. City probably would not have had the energy to voice any complaints about the game, even if they thought they did
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