Manchester City vs. Bournemouth: Score, Reaction from 2016 Premier League Match

Manchester City defeated Bournemouth 4-0 in the Premier League at the Etihad Stadium as the hosts maintained their berth at the top of the table on Saturday.

Kevin De Bruyne gave a virtuoso performance as he opened the scoring with a clever free-kick, and Kelechi Iheanacho made it 2-0 after just 25 minutes. 

Raheem Sterling grabbed the third shortly after the half-time restart, and new German signing Ilkay Gundogan made it 4-0 as City ran riot.

It was an extraordinary performance from the Manchester giants as they prove to be worthy favourites to win the title after Pep Guardiola’s arrival.

Gundogan made his full Premier League debut for the club in midfield. Bacary Sagna and Gael Clichy were brought in to play full-back, while Aleksandar Kolarov moved to centre-back. John Stones and Pablo Zabaleta dropped to the bench. 

Jack Wilshere came into Bournemouth’s side for his full debut. The midfielder replaced striker Callum Wilson as Eddie Howe reverted to a 4-5-1.

City were overwhelming favourites to prevail against the south-coast underdogs. ESPN’s Alex Shaw was convinced it would be a one-sided encounter:

Man City to win 5-0.

— Alex Shaw (@AlexShawESPN) September 17, 2016

The Sky Blues were quickly on the attack, and had their first shot of the day within the opening seconds of the game.

Bournemouth weathered an early storm, giving as good as they received, but the hosts took the lead as a De Bruyne scored from a free-kick after 15 minutes. The Belgian rolled his effort under the wall, fooling the Bournemouth defence that expected a curling effort.

Squawka.com highlighted the attacker’s contribution:

Kevin De Bruyne has now been directly involved in 20 goals in 30 Premier League games for Man City.Key player. pic.twitter.com/tpcB7QcmW1

— Squawka Football …

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