Erling Haaland struck twice as Manchester City climbed to second place in the Premier League with a 3-1 victory over Bournemouth on Sunday.
The Cherries, who began the day in second after an impressive unbeaten run, were undone by the Norwegian striker’s ruthless finishing. Haaland’s brace took his league tally to 13 goals in just 10 games, keeping City firmly in the title race.
Pep Guardiola’s men narrowed the gap to leaders Arsenal to six points and moved one ahead of Liverpool, who they face next weekend. Despite last week’s loss at Aston Villa, Guardiola expressed confidence that his side can still challenge Arsenal for the crown.
There were further positives for the champions as Rayan Cherki and Phil Foden impressed in creative roles, while Nico O’Riley became the first City player apart from Haaland to score in the Premier League in over a month.
Bournemouth started strongly, buoyed by their unbeaten streak since the opening-day defeat at Liverpool, but their high defensive line was punished after 17 minutes when Cherki’s header released Haaland, who sprinted from inside his own half to smash past Djordje Petrovic.
The visitors equalised eight minutes later as Tyler Adams lashed home following confusion from a corner, with Gianluigi Donnarumma protesting he had been impeded.
City quickly regained control, and Haaland struck again before halftime — racing onto another Cherki through ball, rounding Petrovic, and slotting home his 26th goal of the season for club and country.
The 25-year-old also became just the third player in Premier League history to score multiple goals in four consecutive home matches, joining Luis Suárez and Robbie Fowler.
Guardiola has called for more goals from other areas of the pitch, and O’Riley answered the call late on, driving forward to fire Foden’s pass into the far corner and seal the win.
Haaland was denied a hat-trick after being substituted for Omar Marmoush with eight minutes left, as Guardiola looked ahead to City’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.
The result keeps City within touching distance of Arsenal, who have now recorded nine straight wins and seven consecutive clean sheets across all competitions.
