Even Manchester City can fall apart at times.
Ahead of Saturday afternoon’s clash, Bournemouth had never beaten Manchester City in any competition. However, the Cherries showed no near in the face of the vulnerable champions, taking the lead after nine minutes through Antoine Semenyo.
It could, and should, have been more. City were on the ropes, like a boxer in the back end of a bout, Bournemouth just needed one more shot – and that would come through Evanilson just past the hour mark.
It wasn’t quite panic stations in the blue half of Manchester, but their passing became more frantic as news filtered through Liverpool were leading at Brighton.
City scrambled for anything, but it was still Bournemouth in the ascendancy. That was until defender-turned-goalscoring-extraordinaire Josko Gvardiol stuck the ball into the back of the net.
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It was back against the wall time as Erling Haaland and Phil Foden sprung into action. Haaland came closest, almost lost for words at how he was denied by Mark Travers.
“What a shock! Manchester City’s streak ends, hope they bounce back soon,” one fan posted. While a second said: “Bournemouth are one of those teams that, after the Chels game, I said that they will beat one of the top teams this year and shock people!”
“Miracles do happen…So happy for Bournemouth,” a third posted. And another added: “Bournemouth have now beaten Arsenal and Man City in back-to-back home games. Huge!”
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City failed to capitalise on Arenal dropping points earlier in the day – with Alexander Isak making the difference at St James’ Park.
It’s back-to-back defeats for Pep Guardiola’s side, with Tottenham Hotspur dumping the champions out of the Carabao Cup during the week.