With Arsenal six points clear at the top, Manchester City continues its pursuit to keep the Premier League title race alive. The Citizens bounced back strongly, returning to winning ways with a 3–1 victory over Bournemouth.
Erling Haaland once again stole the show, scoring a brilliant brace and proving he remains the team’s undisputed leader. The Norwegian blond machine has no real competition on the island in the race for the Golden Boot. With this double, he now sits at 13 Premier League goals, and 20 in total across 17 matches this season.
Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute, sprinting from midfield to finish clinically and ignite celebrations at the Etihad Stadium. Bournemouth responded swiftly, equalizing through Adams in the 25th minute. But as in the first goal, Cherki once again provided the assist, setting up Haaland to round the goalkeeper and restore City’s lead in the 35th minute.
In the second half, O’Reilly sealed the win with City’s third goal in the 60th minute, securing a crucial victory that lifts Guardiola’s men into second place in the Premier League table.
After the match, a smiling Haaland praised his team’s response:
“It was an important win for us. It’s always nice to bounce back after a tough loss. I just tried to help the team by doing my job. It feels great to win, but now we have two important matches ahead — we must stay focused,” said the striker.
With this result, Manchester City climbs to 19 points, one ahead of Liverpool, who also returned to winning ways with a 2–0 victory over Aston Villa.
