A weakened and slightly laboured Manchester City still managed to open a five point gap at the top of the Premier League, a warning to the rest of the competition that even with big names missing they can still keep up their scoring average of three goals per game. City do function better when David Silva is involved, however, and though the Spain midfielder only came on for the last 13 minutes it was enough to make the point.
“We were flat at times, but that’s normal when you play a lot of matches,” Pep Guardiola said. “I’m still delighted with the win, because one or two big teams will drop points this weekend. Maybe we weren’t good for the whole 90 minutes but we did enough in 75 to win the game. I don’t know what Leroy Sané ate before the game but I am going to show him the video and try to get him to eat it again. Next time he complains about not playing, I’ll tell him if he plays like that he will be in the side.”
Written by Paul Wilson at the Etihad Stadium
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/dec/01/manchester-city-bournemouth-premier-league-match-report under the title “Manchester City’s Raheem Sterling strikes again to sink Bournemouth”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
