Man City 6-1 Bournemouth: Player ratings as dazzling Doku sends City top
Manchester City maintained their perfect Premier League record against Bournemouth, cruising to a 6-1 victory on Saturday afternoon — the club's record-extending 13th consecutive win against the Cherries.
Jeremy Doku repeatedly pierced Bournemouth's wilting resolve with an incredible individual display, ending the match with one goal and four assists.
The Cherries were much improved after the interval — though they couldn't get much worse — and briefly made it 4-1 before crumbling in the closing stages. City's commanding win took them above Tottenham Hotspur at the Premier League summit ahead of Spurs' meeting with Chelsea on Monday.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola, as respect slipped into fear, discarded the fearsome press that defined his style, setting up his visiting side in a reactive 5-4-1 huddled inside their defensive third. It worked — for 30 minutes.
Scurrying infield, Doku — Pep Guardiola's agent of chaos — combined with the team's metronome, lending the ball to Rodri before tucking it beyond Ionut Radu.
Doku's willingness to not only run at the red and white stripes but jump off his perch on the left wing befuddled Bournemouth's backline. Chris Mepham was dragged across the width of the visitors' crowded box but was beaten by Doku just as easily in a different patch of grass, untangling his knotted legs while City's star man teed up Bernardo Silva from a cutback.
Less than five minutes had elapsed before Doku forced City into a 3-0 lead, killing a contest that never really looked alive. The Belgian's wayward shot from the second phase of a corner cannoned off the back of an unwitting Manuel Akanji.
With nothing to lose (or win), Iraola released the handbrake at half-time, shifting his team several yards up the
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