MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Erling Haaland might not monopolize all of Manchester City’s goals this season, after all.
Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden scored for City – with an own goal – in a 4-0 win over Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday, with Haaland barely having sight of the goal at the Etihad Stadium .
The Norwegian striker scored both goals for City in their 2-0 opening weekend win at West Ham but was largely ousted a week later as Bournemouth sat deep with plenty of men behind the ball in a game that looked like attack versus defense training. exercise.
City midfielders have benefited from the extra attention given to Haaland.
Gundogan’s goal involved City’s new star striker, Haaland holding his marker with his back to goal and clipping a ball into the German midfield. Gundogan’s left-footed finish found the bottom corner in the 19th for his 50th goal for City.
De Bruyne scored the goal pick, the playmaker cutting inside on a counterattack led by Foden in the 31st, beating a defender and bending his shot with the outside of his right foot into the far corner. distant.
De Bruyne returned the favor to Foden six minutes later, slipping a brilliant pass between the legs of a defender and into the path of his team-mate, who took a throw-in and fired in a deflected shot that beat keeper Mark Through.
Haaland’s best chance fell in the 73rd when he missed a first shot wide from Jack Grealish’s cut-back. The striker was substituted moments later.
The scoring was completed by Jefferson Lerma, who unwittingly turned a Joao Cancelo cross into his own net from inside Bournemouth’s penalty area.
It was a wake-up call for Bournemouth after the promoted side started the season with a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 win over Aston Villa last weekend.
City manager Pep Guardiola has again opted to start with Bernardo Silva on the bench. The Portuguese midfielder has been linked with a move to Barcelona and hasn’t started against West Ham either.
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