Haaland brace fires Man City past Bournemouth
Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City defeated Bournemouth 3–1 to climb to second place in the Premier League, cutting the gap to leaders Arsenal to six points.
Pep Guardiola’s side bounced back from their first loss in 10 games at Aston Villa last weekend, when Haaland failed to score for only the second time this season. But the Norwegian was back to his ruthless best against the in-form Cherries, taking his league tally to 13 goals.
Bournemouth thought they had made a dream start after just 46 seconds when Eli Junior Kroupi found the net, but the teenager’s effort was ruled out for offside.
City responded by taking control, and in the 17th minute Haaland opened the scoring. Rayan Cherki’s clever header released him on halfway, and the striker coolly slotted past Djordje Petrovic for a typically clinical finish.
The visitors hit back eight minutes later when Tyler Adams pounced on a loose ball after Gianluigi Donnarumma failed to claim a corner, netting his first Premier League goal. The City keeper was booked for protesting what he felt was a foul in the build-up.
Haaland restored City’s lead before the break, once again combining with Cherki before rounding Petrovic and finishing confidently for his second of the night — and 26th goal of the season for club and country.
He came close to a hat-trick when a chipped effort was superbly clawed away by Petrovic, while an early second-half header flew over.
Bournemouth pressed for an equaliser, but Donnarumma denied Kroupi before Nico O’Reilly sealed the victory on the hour mark, driving in a low strike to secure an impressive 3–1 win.
