Haaland fires Manchester City up to second after win against Bournemouth

0:06Thanks for joining us on the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. We were at the Etihad Stadium for Super Sunday where Manchester City played Bournemouth. Here's how we saw things when the final whistle blew.

0:26So Manchester City are back up into the big picture, back up onto the shoulder of the leaders. The restoration, you might say, of some kind of natural order. Bournemouth so brilliantly effervescent up to now this season, found as so many had before them, that Erling Haaland was just too great a challenge. It was he who broke through just after the quarter hour, it was he who scored again just after the half hour. Tyler Adams having given Bournemouth brief parity. Nico O 'Reilly added a third bang on the hour, and Manchester City alum from that point on felt pretty safe. Yeah, I think if anybody had had any doubts about City's credentials this season, they did a lot today to put an end to those doubts because his side could give anybody a bloody nose.

1:18They threatened to at times out there, but City defensively, I said, were really solid and Haaland at the point of the attack, aided by the likes of Cherokee, Foden. Just too much today. Just too much. And so for the ninth time in nine at this stadium, City have picked off the cherries and they nudged them, Kenny out of second place. It's City 3, Bournemouth 1. Peter, thank you very much. Thank you to Alan Smith as well. And it is a comprehensive win for Manchester City. And as they were just saying, once they'd gone 3-1 up, any sense of jeopardy in the game had gone, Shay, really? Yeah, it was comfortable in the end.

1:57You know, the cruise control after, right, they got the third goal. Kind of from a neutral point of view, it was when they wanted Bournemouth to come out in the second half and get that goal. to make it a bit more maybe exciting but Pep won't care about that, he just wants to get the three points in the Premier League, six points behind Arsenal so for the neutrals who wants a real title race it was a must win today for Pep Guardiola and his team. How important was that in the context of the title race? Yeah it's massive, as I said before in the game I think they can't really afford to slip up at all, especially here at home, they have to get maximum points I think to really challenge Arsenal at the top.

2:29against six points now looks close enough because of course Arsenal have to come to the stadium as well before the end of the season as well so it's definitely much within touch and distance and again these players are hurting because they gave the title away last year to Liverpool they want the title back but Arsenal at the minute everyone thinks it's a done deal but I think these players and City will have a different story to tell you Certainly Erling Haaland will and we'll talk more about him and his individual performance and his individual numbers between now and when we go off air But from Manchester City's point of view, in terms of that performance, do they look like a team that's just getting better and better as the season's going on?

3:06Yeah, I thought today they were fantastic in and out of possession. I thought defensively really solid against a team that we know were second in the league before this game was kicked off. That Bournemouth were a massive threat in loads of areas across the pitch. So Man City had to almost stifle that to then earn the right to play. and I think some of the midfield players thought Nico Gonzalez coming into the midfield and that sort of rogery role, if you like, was absolutely outstanding. Foden, Cherki, and you can just see there he's probably demanding more, going, why did you bring me off on two goals?

3:35And he's going, well, you had your chance, didn't you, to make it through. But no, it was a very authoritative performance from Man City. And of course, they'll want to make sure that Erling Haaland stays fit. This is a long campaign, and they'll be battling on many fronts, Manchester City, and he is absolutely crucial to any success that they may have this season. From Bournemouth's point of view, we saw how disappointed those players were as they went over to the Bournemouth fans. They had their opportunities in this game and there were periods where they looked really good. Is this bigger than that?

4:02Is it a reminder of just how big that next jump is for them? Of course, Bournemouth know the challenge. They wouldn't have come here today expecting to win. They would have believed they could win, but they certainly knew they had to have been right at it to win. Today, Man City, as the guys have said, were killers today. They're really decisive in the final third. The goals and the counter-attack in the first half have changed the game. And Bournemouth will dust themselves down and go again. And they've been so impressive so far this season, Bournemouth. But on the wrong end of that 3-1 scoreline today, and this is what's happened elsewhere.

4:36The reason it was so important for Manchester City is because Arsenal got that 2-0 win at Burnley to move further ahead at the top of the table. And they've been pegged back a little bit by Manchester City. Pass with a 2-0 win against Brentford. Fulham 3-0 against Wolves. Liverpool back to winning ways. 2-0 victory for them against Aston Villa. It was a 2-0 draw for Manchester United at Nottingham Forest. And Chelsea with a 1-0 win at Spurs. Earlier today, West Ham got their first win under Nuno Espirito Santo. Newcastle is still looking for their first away win in the Premier League of the season.

5:10And as we've just seen, Manchester City have beaten Bournemouth by three goals to one. There's still another game to come. It's Sunderland against Everton and that's live on Sky Sports Premier League tomorrow evening. 8 o 'clock kickoff, 6.30 for all the build-up and a reflection of the weekend's big stories from the Premier League. So the league table looks like this with Manchester City now in second place. They've got 19 points, they're six points behind Arsenal. And the defeat for Bournemouth means that because their goal difference has gone down, they've gone below Liverpool. So it's Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool in the top three, Bournemouth completing the top four.

5:51Defeat for Newcastle means they stay in 13th place in the table, but it was a big win for West Ham, not just in terms of morale, but also because they moved to the edges of the relegation places. They're on seven points now from their 10 games played so far this season.

6:14Hey, it's Sophie and Will from Sky News. Too many headlines, too little time. We get it, and that's why we're bringing you Cheat Sheet. Ten minutes every weekday morning. All the big stories from politics to pop culture minus the noise. No doom scrolling, no spin, just the stories that matter. From two people who live and breathe the news. Cheat Sheet with Bridget Frost from Sky News. Follow Cheat Sheet wherever you get your podcasts.

6:44Welcome back to the Sky Sports Premier League podcast. Let's get back to the studio for more reaction to today's game. That's been a confident start from the visitors. Seen plenty of the ball. Chucky's hitter, Haaland's on his way. Haaland is on the charge. And Haaland scores. He is robotic. Scott's delivery. Donner River struggling. And it's turned in by Tyler Adams. That's a beautifully rated ball and here goes Erling Haaland. Slick, smart, certain. Foden. O 'Reilly. Nicola O 'Reilly spears in and gives City room to breathe. Big win for Manchester City that takes them second in the table. A place that was occupied by their opponents today, Bournemouth.

7:44But that 3-1 victory came with 15 shots, eight of them on target, which is the joint most from City in the Premier League so far this season. An XG of over two, 43 touches in the opponent's box, 139 passes in the final third. And Bournemouth just about edged possession. But just look at what City did when they had the ball. So Manchester City with that 3-1 victory. It's another two goals for Erling Haaland in that 3-1 win. and that's eight goals in his last four home games for City. Pep Guardiola, absolutely delighted with him. Let's hear from him with Pien Mellenstein. Erling, congratulations.

8:23It was a big victory, and it's a victory that puts Manchester City up to second. How important was that win? Yeah, thank you for that important win, and yeah, it's good to bounce back after losing a bad away game, so yeah, it was nice. Two goals for you, which isn't a surprise, but talk us through, especially that first one. You're one-on-one with a goalkeeper. What did you see in front of you? You're a goalkeeper, of course. I try to contribute for the team by doing my job. And yeah, we won again and it's good to win. That's when everyone is happy. So that's what we try to do all the time. So now two more important games before international and keep focusing.

9:05Ryan Cherky started the match today. It seemed like you two had quite a nice partnership on there. Yeah, yeah. We all know his qualities. So it's about trying to get the best out of everyone. And today he had two amazing assists to me. So, yeah, hopefully many more. We heard as well that it's the 15th time you've been subbed off in your Manchester City career on two goals. So how desperate were you for a hat-trick today? Did you feel like you could have got one? Yeah, of course. So you need to ask Pep for this. I think there were probably a few fantasy managers that were not so happy when I got sold up.

9:39Do you ever surprise yourself? Because you're in great goal scoring form. It seems like you're just unstoppable. I didn't score last game. Again, I try to help the team to win. That's my goal. Even by scoring or helping them with winning duels, it doesn't matter as long as we win. That's what I want to do. I want to win games and I want to help the team become a better football team, become a better football club. So that's my job. Well, you are the player of the match. Congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. Well, the thing with Erling Haaland is that the numbers are just consistently impressive.

10:22It's not just the fact that he's constantly breaking records, but he's going for targets that he's setting himself. Yeah, he's got aspirations of being the best striker in the Premier League, probably history. the best player in Norwegian history probably the best player in the world that's the sort of history and the thing he wants to make in his career you see the stuff he does off the pitch Kelly he's the ultimate professional he'll be prepping now in the changing room for the next game but we're surprised about Bormov at this stage how good he is when he gets away Bormov is so high up it's probably a poor defender but brilliant from Haaland The way that this goal occurred I think Gonzalez had a terrific game probably one of his best games in a Manchester City shirt the way that he kind of held off the pass there from a deep position played it in behind and then they've got the space to use and i think that the relationship here just the weight of that pass into turkey finding the 10 and again i think turkey was exceptional today as well the first time header into the path and i think about that harlem finish as well you've got all that grass to run into but how do you sustain the momentum at running at speed and the way he drops the ball down with his head into his path he just continues to run and he just runs away with it and he got another goal in the game as well.

11:31This was the one that put Manchester City the one that put them 2-1 up, but before that Bournemouth were leveled through Tyler Adams' first goal for Bournemouth. There was a little bit of a question mark as to whether Donnarumma was fouled here, whether he's got hold of his arm and it's just enough to put him off. They said he released it before he was able to jump, so they didn't say that was a foul, but it was still something And Bournemouth at that stage was still pushing to get into the game and was still working to get into the game. Yeah, in the first half, Bournemouth were really in the game, had a foothold in it.

12:08They get back 1-1, show resilience, belief. And the third goal, obviously the second goal, and then the third goal really killed Bournemouth's opportunity. And the last period of the game was end-to-end, but really Man City had control of the game. Yeah, Erling Haaland, as he said, not quite unstoppable because he's not scored in every single game, but he has scored 65 % of Manchester City's Premier League goals this season. And he got his second, as I say, the one that put City in front in this game. Yeah, and playing narrow in midfield, Manchester City, a really good connection found between Foden and Cherki.

12:40And again, using the space in behind. You know, when someone goes through a goal like this in Erling Haaland, he's unstoppable. You think there's no chance he's going to miss. And here he just takes it around Petrovic. And the angle on the ball here, you just take this touch here. he just gives himself enough angle to then slide the ball into the back of the net beyond the keeper. But terrific build-up play for Man City. And I thought the midfield connection in particular in moments throughout that 90 minutes was exceptional. And that's what created those chances for that man. So it's 13 Premier League goals from his opening 10 games, only bettered by his own record in 2022-23.

13:19Les Ferdinand is in there. the other two spots are occupied by the other two seasons where Erling Haaland has played in the opening 10 games of the season. Seven of Manchester City's last eight goals have been scored by Erling Haaland and he's scored more than 10 of the 20 Premier League clubs so far this season. He is a phenomenon, but this season in particular, he's talked about playing fit, he's talked about feeling comfortable going into this season. Pep Guardiola has given him a bit of a hug and then they go on to have a bit of a discussion, which Guardiola we know likes to do on the pitch.

13:52But given how well he feels and given how well he's talking about feeling, how important is he to Manchester City? And even coming off after a couple of goals when he's on his hat-trick, keeping him fit for the rest of the season. Yeah, everything in Tegelar round, you know, Matty touched on it there about the top, the sort of professionalism that you can see that he lives his life, you know, very professionally, which so he should, but he delivers performances that are unstoppable. He is a phenomenon. His physicality, he's got the ability to drop deep, protect the ball. He's got the ability to run in behind.

14:25He's the perfect number nine. And a lot of people say he doesn't do much off the ball. He just scores goals. But actually what he does do is he distracts a lot of players. Just his sheer presence on the pitch, it just distracts people. And then he comes to life. And I think he showed again today why he's one of the best in the world. And Pep Guardiola keeps being asked, are you too reliant on Haaland for goals? He said he doesn't feel the pressure of it. Haaland doesn't feel the pressure of it. does it matter, Shea, if you've got a striker who's as prolific as Erling Haaland in the form that he's in does it matter if they are reliant on him?

14:57Not really, as long as he can keep him fit, you know, that's the thing. Keep him fit, keep him firing and there's a bit of a coming together with Haaland and Pep after. I think Haaland's saying one more goal, I'll get a hat-trick and I think the interviewer asked him, it's 15 games he's been taken off on two goals, you know, so we look at all these numbers and these records he's beaten and it could be even better if he stays on for 90 minutes, but you can understand why Pep would take him off because you're protecting him for the next game. You don't want to lose your main striker. And I think Cherokee, Ryan Cherokee, today deserves a special mention as well.

15:27You know, two assists for him. We've not seen a lot of him in the Premier League. And I think what I've seen today, I was really excited as well. And even Haaland said there's a connection already between them two. And we've seen in the past with De Bruyne and the like. So the next man on the conveyor belt could be Ryan Cherokee. I mean, we did see him stopped last week in terms of goal scoring, which is clearly something that's still bothering him as far as that interview is concerned. But if you stop Haaland, do you stop Manchester City? And is that easier said than done? Yeah, definitely. But definitely not.

15:59I think that Cherki and Foden play huge parts in the goals today. And their positions in between the lines of Bournemouth's midfield and defence makes it so difficult. and their position causes the space for Haaland to run into and him be such a killer in those areas. But without those two picking up those pockets of space, the opportunities don't come. Well, David Brooks has been talking about exactly this, about how to deal with Manchester City and Erling Haaland with Pien Merlinstein. It was an interesting game before it started in the sense of the style of play and how both teams were perhaps going to be setting up and playing against each other as well.

16:36What did City do to make it difficult for Bournemouth today? I think there's a variety of different things. I think everyone knows we love to press, but this is one of the teams where they're extremely comfortable on the ball, even with mad amounts of pressure that we were applying to them, which is obviously a credit to them. But I think in the first half, we created a lot of opportunities for ourselves through the press. And like I said, I think we pushed them all the way. But I would say the big man up top for them, Harland, He's always going to be a threat, especially when we're being really aggressive.

17:10Today he obviously took his chances well in the first half, which made us have to go after the game a little bit more in the second half. Like I say, he just got away from us in the end. You mentioned Erling Haaland getting the two goals. How difficult is he to even prepare to play against a player like that? It's almost impossible. Obviously, he's 6 '5", he's absolutely rapid, strong, he's brilliant in the air. Obviously, he's a fantastic player. And like I say, for large parts of the game, I thought we did very well. But he's obviously a massive threat when the balls fall into him anywhere. And he took his chances well today.

17:43And yeah, that's it, really. We said it's really difficult to play against Manchester City in an aggressive way because that makes them vulnerable. Did we see that out there today? Yeah, definitely. The couple of times that Izzy just mentioned it there and the couple of times that Bournemouth didn't quite get real pressure. for 25 minutes they did until the goal really they didn't get that one moment two moments where they didn't get the pressure Man City play up back and through and Haaland's in the space it's a real problem Yeah and if you try to play that high line we know and we knew this about Haaland from his Dortmund days that he can play in behind that Yeah I was a little bit surprised that Bournemouth did actually play in so high line I know the press said he's really high up the pitch but as Matt rightly says they've got the players to play through in that high press there's not very many teams that come to that they had Kelly and press so I've seen Sanessi jump here ridiculously high and you've got the likes of Haaland and the pace that he has there's no defender in the world catching him his eyes are wide open now for goal opportunity here again you see with the second goal most teams when they come to that end they're 20 or 30 yards deeper than us there's no space in behind to play Haaland in these kind of positions and you could say it's brave if it comes off you know it's brilliant from Bournemouth because they're so high up in the Premier League but really Haaland should have had a hat-trick this is his chance to make it free and the only thing we're shocked about in the shoot-o is how he didn't score because it feels like when he gets into that position he can never miss.

19:05But a little bit surprised. Were you surprised how high the line was, Matt? No, I was going to say the one thing that from a Bournemouth point of view they've had so much success as a football club and this team has had so much success playing with those tactics that I think it shows real belief in what they're doing to come here and say, no, we're not going to change. We're going to be us and try and be the best version of us. Today they've been undone by a really, really good team, a top team. but there'll be games that they play that and get rewarded and that's where they are on the table because they've been so successful playing in that manner.

19:37And Izzy, is there a difference between playing high up the pitch and playing aggressively? Well, you see with the first goal, I don't know whether we can see it back again but I think it's Alex Scott who's the closest player and I thought he was absolutely terrific today again. I thought he proved why he's emerging into a top, top midfielder but I think he was the closest player to Gonzalez when we look at the goal again, we can see it again, which is great. But Haaland drops deep, plays here, Gonzalez. He has time on the ball and, again, no pressure. But then Sinesi has to jump out in that moment and that is what provides the space.

20:10So you talk about teams in sync and Bournemouth are one of the teams in the league who are the most in sync, like Matt said, out of possession and in possession. But I think on that occasion, it's amazing how a yard where there's no pressure on the ball can allow Gonzalez to play over the two lines and then Haaland's in behind. and that was just a minor, minor detail that had a massive impact against Bournemouth today. Yeah, and it made life difficult for themselves when they're up against a guy who's in so much, such a brilliant streak of form. And they also, I mean, again, Bournemouth were trying to get back into the game, but this third goal from Nico O 'Reilly killed things off from a Bournemouth perspective, didn't it?

20:46I mean, Nico O 'Reilly's had a brilliant time. I mean, Haaland's movement here as well, and sometimes Haaland gets a bit of stick for not actually touching the ball. But he actually, I think he drives Jimenez out a wee bit, the full-back here for Bournemouth. and it just sort of opens up for O 'Reilly, doesn't he? He goes into the position, he goes into the space and no one really actually gets close to him. And O 'Reilly, through the system, through the academy here at Manchester City, he's been an attacking midfielder. So he's comfortable in that position. Maybe Bournemouth don't realise that this is the left back, he's OK, let him shoot.

21:13But it's a brilliant finish from O 'Reilly and he's really stepped up to the plate. I think he's an exciting young talent as well for Man City. Yeah, a real exciting young talent for Manchester City and fitting that he got that goal, is he? Yeah, and I think it's superb. Looking at Nunes and O 'Reilly playing at right-back, left-back for City, and they're both not natural full-backs. And Pep's coaching them into those roles, and they've proven from a physical perspective that they can compete with top wingers in the league. They've nullified Semenyo today. Tavenier played when he came on. I think they did a terrific job.

21:45But then you made an excellent point there about O 'Reilly. That number eight position, box-to-box midfield, that's actually his preferred position coming through. He's now playing left-back. comfortable in that area of the pitch and proving why he's such an impact in the team because if you play left-back, do you think, oh, am I going to be able to get forward? Well, yeah, you do in Man City's system. And again, it comes from Cherky and Foden carving through the middle of the Bournemouth midfield and I think there was graphics there of Pep, some footage of Pep blowing a kiss to Foden because he knows how integral he was in that move and that third goal which provided the cushion in the end.

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23:04Manchester City have beaten Bournemouth by three goals to one. They move into second place in the table. They're six points behind the league leaders, Arsenal. Here is Pep Guardiola with Pien Merlinstein. Pep, congratulations. It's three points that put you up to second in the table. How do you reflect on that performance from your side? There is no team, no manager, no players. That doesn't mean to beat Bournemouth in the real time. So it's a so demanding team. It's a really good team. It's been for many years since they're all here. But we played really, really good. and it's difficult to remember the thread in behind and the four up front is always there and you have to be so coordinated to our pressing but especially with the defence today, with the ball we were so clever, we found they played really good and of course again Erling was decisive.

24:02We'll get on to Erling Haaland goals in a minute but just how pleased were you with your side's performance against a quite intense former side? No, we knew it. So we experienced last season in the Premier League, they destroy us. We could never handle it, nothing. The FA Cup was much better. Here was tight and always have been tight with them, always. They are so intense, so aggressive. They open, they are so wide in the process and they're threats with Semenyo and Brooks and all the players. They drop a strike, especially Tabarneo, Kloiber when played. So that's you holding midfielders are so dynamic and defensive so aggressive.

24:41So, listen, today is the second game that they lost. We lost more games than them. So, it's a team that is so, so good. It was a really quick start from them. They had, of course, that goal that was offside in the opening minutes. But Erling Haaland, of course, scored that opening goal. In terms of the timing, how important was it to score at that time? It was really good. But the timing is a goal that we concede. that the way you see the replay and it's unbelievable that it's not fault. So there are things that sometimes it's difficult to understand. So why is not disallowed and this kind of thing?