Man City 3 Bournemouth 1: Erling Haaland scores twice and unveils brilliant new celebration as City go second
ERLING HAALAND went from supervillain to hero as his incredible start to the season continued.
The Manchester City idol got in the “Haal-oween” spirit this week by dressing up as Batman’s nemesis The Joker and hitting the shops.
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Haaland scored two of City’s three goals at the EtihadCredit: EPA
Gianluigi Donnarumma was let off the hook after a first-half errorCredit: Getty
And as you would expect, when he returned to the day job he ended up having the last laugh.
The big Norwegian’s presence on the team-sheet was enough to scare the living daylights out of Bournemouth – as he helped himself to two more goals in the first half.
That’s 19 in all competitions for his club this season – and we are only just into November.
Even the Caped Crusader himself would struggle to stop him in this kind of form.
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City had won all eight Prem home games against their opponents – and many of them by emphatic margins.
Yet it is fair to say they have never met a Cherries side this good with Andoni Iraola’s men starting the day in second – six places above their hosts.
And there was an early warning for City as Eli Kroupi tapped home inside the first couple of minutes but the in-form French youngster had mis-timed his run and drifted offside.
But the visitors’ high line always looked risky with Haaland around and so it proved in the 17th minute.
The main man had been involved in the build up on the edge of his own box but in the blink of an eye he was running onto Rayan Cherki’s header forward.
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He had started his run from inside his team’s half so had plenty still to do – but never looked like missing and beat Djordje Petrovic emphatically.
Haaland celebrated by pulling out some robot moves straight out of the Peter Crouch play-book.
Yet the lead lasted only seven minutes as the Cherries pulled level in controversial circumstances.
Gianluigi Donnarumma was clearly being held by David Brooks as a corner came over from the left but he broke free – and made a terrible mess of it.
Tyler Adams levelled for Bournemouth in the 25th minuteCredit: AFP
Haaland unveiled his new robot celebrationCredit: Getty
He got his punch all wrong and it fell perfectly for Tyler Adams who volleyed home the loose ball.
City complained and Donnarumma got a yellow card for going too far – but the goal stood.
The Italy international has had a positive impact on City since he arrived on deadline day – but that has to go down as an error.
Referee Anthony Taylor – who hails from nearby Altrincham – has never been a favourite of the Etihad faithful.
As well as waving away those protests, he then turned down a strong appeal for a penalty when the ball hit the hand of defender Alex Jiminez.
So for the home fans it felt like some kind of justice as Haaland ran onto Cherki’s clever pass and glided around Petrovic before rolling home his second of the game.
City could have killed the game off as O’Reilly went round Petrovic – just liked Haaland had done moments earlier – but this time Jiminez got back to clear.
And Jeremy Doku gave the Norwegian the chance to complete his hat-trick – but this time Petrovic stuck up an arm to save.
The visitors – who started the day in second place – looked to get back into it as they started the second half brightly.
Brooks fired a shot into the side-netting while Donnarumma palmed away a thumping drive by Kroupi after some good work by Alex Scott.
But on the hour, they found themselves further behind and Cherki – making the most of a rare start – was again involved.
The start to his City career has been blighted by injury but fans have been genuinely excited by the glimpses they have seen from him.
He is one to keep an eye on and he and Phil Foden – who was making his 200th Prem start – look like they could do some real damage together.
Cherki opened things up for the goal by slipping a pass into Foden who in turn played it into the path of O’Reilly.
It would have been easy for the England new boy to look for Haaland but instead he showed great confidence to push on and send a low shot beyond Petrovic.
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With a big week coming up – featuring games against Borussia Dortmund and Liverpool – Guardiola took the chance to make changes.
Haaland was one allowed to put his feet up as he prepares to go up against his former club – but his work was done by then.
O’Reilly scored City’s third with a confident finishCredit: Alamy
