Haaland-Cherki’s duo silence Bournemouth’s surprise run

• Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth : Haaland 16’ 33’, O’Reilly 60’ – Adams 24’

After Jadon Sancho at Dortmund and Kevin De Bruyne for three years, Erling Haaland seems to have found a new ideal partner in crime — the gifted Rayan Cherki. The young Frenchman assisted both of Haaland’s goals and appears to understand the Norwegian’s movements perfectly.

Second in the table before kickoff and boasting an excellent counterattacking setup, Bournemouth looked capable of troubling Manchester City. With a stunning start to the season placing them near the top, Andoni Iraola’s adaptability has been impressive despite several departures. Lining up with pacey threats like Semenyo, Brooks, and Franco-Ivorian wonderkid Eli Junior Kroupi, the Cherries were clearly set up to exploit open space.

The opening minutes confirmed that plan, as Bournemouth even showed confidence in possession. Still reeling from their loss to Aston Villa, City looked shaky early on but relied on what always works — Erling Braut Haaland. On a sequence where Bournemouth’s backline was pushed high, City recovered the ball, and Haaland played a quick one-two before being launched through by a clever header from Cherki. The striker sprinted 40 meters into open field before clinically finishing to open the scoring.

But just five minutes later, at the 24th minute, Gianluigi Donnarumma’s poor aerial judgment handed Bournemouth a lifeline — the keeper missed his punch and allowed Tyler Adams to equalize. The Cherries continued pressing high, but that only opened more space for City’s ruthless front line. With a creative genius like Rayan Cherki feeding him, Haaland made no mistake when his Lyon-born teammate delivered a perfect through ball. Two goals to one for City at halftime — a high-paced match featuring beautiful football from Bournemouth but ruthless efficiency from Pep Guardiola’s side.

The second half slowed down, and while Bournemouth tried to fight back, left-back O’Reilly delivered the knockout blow. Taking advantage of Rayan Aït-Nouri’s absence, O’Reilly is cementing his place in Pep’s starting XI. Despite a tricky game for City overall, Cherki once again displayed his magic, with two sublime assists highlighting his growing influence. As for Haaland, the superlatives are quickly running out.

Manchester City will host Liverpool next week — a massive clash that could prove crucial in the race not to let Arsenal pull away in the title hunt.