Kevin De Bruyne back in the goals on his return from injury
Five things we learnt from Dean Court as Citizens smash Cherries
Kevin De Bruyne teed up Manchester City perfectly for their Champions League showdown on Wednesday.
The £54million Belgian striker hit a cracker in his comeback as City took Bournemouth apart.
De Bruyne’s goalscoring return after missing ten weeks through an ankle injury could not have been better timed.
He said: “I’m very happy with the way everything went.
“Physically I’m OK and was able to play for almost an hour. Obviously this gives us a boost for PSG.
“It will be hard but we will do everything to win the game.”
And City boss Manuel Pellegrini was delighted to have one of his superstars back.
He said: “Kevin is a very important player, before his injury he was a very good performer.
“It was unlucky for him to have that injury but today he demonstrated how good a player he is.
“I was sure he was going to return the same way that he finished before his injury. We will see how he is tomorrow when we will start preparing for the next game.”
The long-awaited return of midfield star Samir Nasri also lifted a team that had been accused of taking their eye off the ball since City confirmed Pep Guardiola would replace Pellegrini in the summer.
Pellegrini added: “The return of Nasri is another player who can give us lots of things.
“If you have your players 100 per cent fit and playing them all together, you win more games.
“I’m very pleased today first of all because we won, scored four goals and because we returned to our style of play. That’s the way I like to see this team play, that’s the style I like to play the game.”
A revitalised City, who had lost four of their last six league games, ruthlessly tore the Cherries’ edgy defence apart with three goals in the first 19 minutes.
The Capital One Cup winners had bagged just a miserly 13 goals on the road. But that was before they arrived on the South Coast.
They had a ball in the sun thanks to some really generous hospitality and Bournemouth’s frailties at set-pieces were exposed as early as the seventh minute.
Jesus Navas’ corner was flicked on by Fernandinho for fellow Brazilian Fernando to hook home.
Before the Cherries could compose themselves they were 2-0 down. Just five minutes later, home full-back Charlie Daniels was caught in possession by David Silva, who flicked the ball towards De Bruyne.
The Belgian could not believe his luck to have so much space and duly volleyed home his 17th goal of the campaign.
And the contest was effectively over within seven minutes when Sergio Aguero notched his ninth goal in ten league games.
The Argentinian appeared to hang in the air above his marker Adam Smith before thumping home his header.
Bournemouth fans could be excused for taking a nervous look at the table and double checking that their heroes are indeed safe.
They need just two points to reach the fabled safety marker of 40. But let’s not forget they must meet the likes of Liverpool, Chelsea Everton and Manchester United in those final six games.
Bournemouth’s only threat of the first half arrived on the half-hour when Steve Cook’s header was tipped away by Willy Caballero, his only real save of the match.
And the home side were caught cold right at the start of the second period which so nearly resulted in a fourth goal.
Navas sent over an inviting cross for De Bruyne to hit first time and only an outstanding save from Artur Boruc kept the ball out. But the fourth was coming and duly arrived from sub Aleksandar Kolarov, who rounded off a one-sided contest when he made it 4-0 with the last kick of the game.
The Serbian received a throw-in, burst through feeble challenges from Matt Ritchie and Eunan O’Kane before smashing the ball into the far corner.
Eddie Howe’s side have now conceded 17 goals in their four games against City and Tottenham.
Last October they suffered successive 5-1 defeats by both clubs and before the international break went down 3-0 at Spurs.
Howe was left cursing De Bruyne’s return and said: “He’s a very talented player and it’s unfortunate for us that he came back today.
“I’ve got to say De Bruyne has been absolutely outstanding against us in the two games, he really has.
“In all areas they were better than us and I accept that but they are the team we want to become.”
DREAM TEAM RATINGS
STAR MAN - AGUERO (Man City)
BOURNEMOUTH: Boruc 5, Smith 6 (Elphick 6), Francis 7, Cook 7, Daniels 6, Ritchie 7, O’Kane 6, Surman 6, Gradel 6 (Gosling 6), Grabban 6, King 6 (Pugh 46. Subs not used: Iturbe, Federici, Distin, Murray.
MAN CITY: Caballero 7, Zabaleta 7, Otamendi 8, Mangala 7, Clichy 8, Fernando 7, Fernandinho 7, Navas 8, Silva 8 (Nasri 6), De Bruyne 7 (Kolarov 7), Aguero 9 (Iheanacho 5). Subs not used: Sagna, Bony, Demichelis, Wright. Booked: Fernando.
Here are five things we learnt:
1
KEVIN DE BRUYNE began where he left off.
The Belgian hit the target on a sparkling return for Manchester City at Bournemouth after finding the net before sustaining his long-term ligament injury during the League Cup victory over Everton in January.
2
IT NEVER rains but it pours goals for Man City.
They had only scored only three in their last four away league games and six all told in their previous ten.
3
BOURNEMOUTH will struggle a bit longer to find a way of securing their first win over Man City if their seventh attempt yesterday is anything to go by.
Their nerves did not appear up to it once City set about them.
4
CHERRIES chairman Jeff Mostyn must have had mixed feelings as City gave Bournemouth the Blues.
Mostyn told us in the match programme that he was “born and bred a ‘Manc’ and it was a “privilege’ to host his hometown club.
5
SAMRI NASRI, with his highlighted blond mop, made his first appearance for City since they battered Bournemouth 5-1 at the Etihad last October when the French international winger came on as a second-half sub.
He’d had surgery on a hamstring.