Man City 6 Bournemouth 1: Guardiola’s champions return to top of table but Erling Haaland suffers major injury scare
KEVIN DE BRUYNE has contributed so much to Manchester City over the last eight years.
And you can now add the recommendation of Jeremy Doku to the Etihad powers that be to that lengthy list.
Injured superstar KDB confirmed this week he was asked for his opinion about his international team-mate as his club weighed up a £55million move in the summer.
He gave a big thumbs up and – on the evidence so far – no wonder. Their midfield superstar clearly knows a player when he sees one.
The City fans will have two brilliant Belgians to enjoy once de Bruyne is back from his hamstring injury in the New Year.
But in the meantime they are savouring Doku – who gave another demonstration of his dazzling talents, scoring once and setting up FOUR others.
Bernardo Silva struck twice for the treble winners – but there was no doubt who the man of the match was.
Pep Guardiola’s squad has such an abundance of quality with almost every box ticked.
Yet a winger with genuine pace to stretch defenders and a trick to put fans on the edge of their seats has been missing – until now.
The 21-year-old arrival from Rennes is certainly going to be a lot of fun to watch – and this City team looks the perfect home for him.
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Here he was preferred to England stars Phil Foden and Jack Grealish – and fully justified Guardiola’s decision.
Early on there were signs he was in the mood to cause some mischief – sending over a cross which was just too high for Erling Haaland.
Meanwhile Silva blasted inches over the bar after a short corner from Julian Alvarez while Haaland headed an Alvarez cross onto the outside of the post.
The visitors were creaking. After a defeat at Wolves last month, there was talk of Cherries boss Andoni Iraola facing the sack.
He survived and his team claimed an overdue first league win of the season – beating fellow strugglers Burnley.
This was an altogether tougher assignment – with City winning all 12 of the previous Prem meetings between these two.
They were hanging on by their fingertips but their resistance was finally broken on the half hour.
Doku played a one-two with Rodri and then burst into the box and curled a shot around Illya Zabarnyi and beyond Andrei Radu.
Doku had been making hay down the left but a couple of minutes later he was causing havoc down the other flank.
He turned Chris Mepham inside out – and then did the Wales defender again – before rolling back for Silva to slide home first time.
Still the Belgian wasn’t finished though. He collected a pass from Bernardo and chopped from his right foot onto his left on the edge of the box.
He fired a left foot shot through a crowd into the corner to score another – or so he thought.
Replays showed it was deflected off Manuel Akanji’s and had probably been going wide – but even so it was created by more brilliance from Doku.
That was three goals in seven minutes and effectively game over. City were coasting yet unusually Haaland was not on the scoresheet.
He could have put that right before the break as he ran onto an Alvarez through ball but credit to Zabarnyi for getting back to make a last-ditch tackle.
That turned out to be the Norwegian’s last contribution as he did not reappear for the second half – with Foden coming on in his place.
He did not appear to be moving quite right at the end of the first half – City fans will pray it was just a precaution.
Ironically Guardiola had said on the eve of the game that his forward was ‘free of injuries’ after struggling with various issues in his last season in Germany.
Not surprisingly, his absence for the second half deflated the home crowd at the start of the second half.
Dominic Solanke had the ball in the net for the Cherries as he poked home at the near post but his joy was cut short by the linesman’s flag.
The former Liverpool forward also cracked a shot against the bar after some good approach play.
It seemed to jolt City back into life as they extended their lead just after the hour – and inevitably Doku was once again involved.
He jinked past poor old Max Aarons – who was having an afternoon he will want to forget – and rolled it into Foden.
The England ace took a touch before slamming past Radu – but was keen for Doku to get the plaudits as he celebrated.
To be fair to Aarons he kept at it and rolled over a cross which Luis Sinisterra controlled and steered past Ederson.
But that only served to anger the home side as Doku’s sweeping pass sent Silva clear and he cut inside before finishing with a cute chip over Radu.
And as the clock ticked down, sub Oscar Bobb sent over a cross which was met by a diving header from ex-Cherries man Nathan Ake to complete the rout.
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