Manchester City were beaten 2-1 by Bournemouth in the Premier League on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola watched his side finally lose after goals by Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson on the south coast.
It was a great display by Bournemouth, who were clinical enough on the day. Manchester City found some momentum towards the end of the game, but had left it too late to mount a comeback.
Josko Gvardiol continued his fine form by scoring his third goal of the season.
But it was too little, too late for City who have now dropped to second in the table with Liverpool beating Brighton.
Micah Richards offered his thoughts on the result on Match of the Day last night, and made one claim about Erling Haaland.
Micah Richards says Man City couldn’t handle Bournemouth’s press, Haaland was ‘smothered’
After the game, Pep Guardiola admitted that Man City simply couldn’t handle Bournemouth’s intensity at the Vitality Stadium.
The Cherries were brilliant as a unit, and this is a result that will see Androni Iraola’s stock rise considerably.
There was a lethargy about City and a lack of care on the ball at times, and Bournemouth exploited those things.
Micah Richards agreed with Guardiola, as he spoke about game last night on Match of the Day. He also claimed Erling Haaland was ‘smothered’.
He said: “The thing is, when you do this press, you’ve got to make sure key players can’t get on the ball in areas. They smothered Haaland and now Bournemouth are putting Man City on the back foot.
“You’ve got Foden in areas where he doesn’t want to defend.
“What I don’t understand, they’ve got seven players in the box against Bournemouth’s two. The organisation wasn’t there. It’s almost like they were a yard off everything.”
A game to forget for Haaland
This was a game to forget for Haaland, and just a really poor day at the office for Manchester City.
For many, this kind of result and performance had been coming. City got a little lucky against the likes of Fulham and Wolves, and only beat struggling Southampton 1-0.
Bournemouth fully deserved their win yesterday, and have perhaps provided a blueprint for other teams to try and follow when playing City.
City just couldn’t deal with Bournemouth, and too many players came up short of their usual standards.
As per Sofascore, Haaland had just 21 touches in the game and completed just 5/7 passes, and was really well-marshalled.
He did have one golden chance towards the end but couldn’t turn in from close range, hitting the post.
The big man’s level has dropped in recent weeks in the Premier League, and City need him to rediscover his mojo.
