Pep Guardiola He praised the “extraordinary” mood among Manchester City players. Premier League beating live championship race Bournemouth.
City comfortably beat the 4-1 winners at Vitality Stadium, effectively wrapping up the win at the end of the first half with three hits. Julian Alvarez, Erling Haland and Phil Foden and his hosts.
“I’m very happy with what I see every day,” Guardiola said. “The mood in the locker room is fantastic, the training is really good. Everyone is helping each other.
Chris Mepham deepened Bournemouth’s troubles with an own goal shortly after the break.
It was clinically indicative of City’s finish, which seemed to score with every attack, as the lead with the leaders Arsenal dropped to two points after the Gunners’ win earlier on Saturday.
It was their first in three wins for the champions, who dropped two points to Nottingham Forest in their last league outing before drawing the Champions League round of 16 first leg with RB Leipzig on Wednesday.
Guardiola’s side on the south coast faced no such challenge as they turned to winning ways with efficiency and style to stay warm in Arsenal’s footsteps.
Guardiola added: “It’s tough because we played a lot of away games last month. No recovery, three days between games, big travel. A lot of pressure that requires physicality.
“We came here today and behaved the way we behaved. It made us feel like we still have a desire to try and experiment. We will try to fight for this Premier League, I have no doubts.”
Even with a 4-0 lead in the second half, City players can be seen fighting stubbornly to keep their clean sheets.
Haaland, the league’s top scorer with a halftime hit and reaching 27 in the league and close to an all-time Premier League record seven goals in a season, was among players struggling to clear the ball as Bournemouth threatened him from a goal. to mix up
Guardiola said he expected no less from his players in their duties towards the fans of the team from Manchester.
“The players will be in trouble if they don’t do this,” the manager said. “They will get into trouble. When the fans come with their cars for 5-6 hours and buy tickets, we have to run with our salary, even if it is 3-0, 4-0, 5-0.
I sound like a demagogue, but it’s the truth. You can perform well or badly. But while I’m here, the effort in this club is never in doubt.
“We see how happy the faces are when we win. You produce a good feeling in people, in families. Tell me something else that could be better than this. Our away fans are incredible.”
A late shot from Jerfferson Lerma cheered the home fans a bit in the 83rd minute, but it was champions day.
Bournemouth manager Gary O’Neil felt his team had given a good account of themselves but were held back by individual mistakes that turned out to be costly.
“It would be nice not to pass them twice in our half,” O’Neil said. “I thought the performance was good. We were penalized for a few mistakes.
“I thought we were in the front. Other than the score line, I thought this was disturbing for Man City.
“I thought we had a really good try, but we were heavily penalized for a few mistakes. We didn’t seize the opportunities we got. There was a lot to be positive.”