Pep: Doku excites the crowd... and me, too!
Boss hails winger as Haaland limps off
A FEW defenders across the Premier League have said the only way to really stand a chance of dealing with Erling Haaland is to get under his skin. To wind him up. Disturb his focus.
Often this comes by the way of little digs to the ribs, a profanity in the ear. He can become distracted by that sort of stuff. Chris Mepham and Illya Zabarnyi’s understanding of the dark arts was far more literal as Bournemouth attempted to blunt the Premier League champions in a stadium where they always win.
Barges, pushes, slanging matches. Mostly off the ball, Haaland giving it back to the pair of centre halves with interest. Never one to back down. At one point, all three were screaming and jostling with each other.
Jeremy Doku was scoring the opener on an afternoon he won’t forget a few seconds later.
Manchester City’s top scorer was successfully stopped though, Lloyd Kelly throwing himself in front of two big chances, Zabarnyi’s brave challenge also denying him when clean through. In the process of that, Haaland felt something and limped off with a twisted ankle at the break.
A job well done. On him, anyway. The problem with obsessing about the Big Fella is someone else in blue will invariably take a game on themselves and Doku decided it’d be him this week. Another stunning performance from a raw winger who has needed no time to settle since joining from Rennes.
By the time the 21-year-old had sauntered into Bournemouth’s box 19 minutes into the second half, waiting patiently for substitute Phil Foden to time a run and score the fourth, Doku already had a goal and two assists. A truly special talent. ‘It’s incredible how he can change the rhythm in small spaces but when he is not able to he can then take good decisions,’ Guardiola said. ‘He creates something for the crowd. When he takes the ball everyone gets excited — me too.’
Doku’s intelligent give and go with Rodri opened Bournemouth up on the half hour. Andoni Iraola’s deep and narrow gameplan wasn’t completely stemming the flow of chances but had made life a little tougher for the hosts as they went in search of a 22nd consecutive home victory in all competitions. Doku stabbed in that Rodri pass before the Etihad became his dancefloor three minutes later. The stepovers, the drag backs, stopping the ball dead. Mepham was seeing stars once the Belgian was done with him, laying back for Bernardo Silva to pass in the second.
This was all finished on 37 minutes. Doku again, albeit slightly fortuitously on this occasion. His shot was wild, flying well wide, only to hit Manuel Akanji on the back and deflect past Andrei Radu. The Swiss raised his hand in celebration straight away. ‘The team didn’t deserve this result,’ Iraola said. ‘City were really clinical. They punished us.’
Bournemouth had registered just one touch inside Ederson’s box yet were significantly better later on. Philip Billing’s goal was disallowed, with Ryan Christie obviously offside and Dominic Solanke slammed the bar from distance. They did manage to nick one eventually after Foden’s fourth, Luis Sinisterra getting on the scoresheet.
And then it ran away from them again. Incredibly, Doku made the fifth as well, a raking pass which led to Silva perfectly chipping Radu. He ended with a brace — and Nathan Ake headed in a sixth — but this was another day where the youngster from Antwerp who cost £55million showed why that outlay looks shrewd business now. MAN CITY (3-1-5-1): Ederson 6.5; Akanji 7, Stones 7 (Lewis 71, 6), Ake 6.5; Rodri 8 (Phillips 71, 5); Walker 6.5, Silva 8.5 (Bobb 85), Alvarez 7.5 (Nunes 71, 5), Kovacic 6, Doku 9.5; Haaland 6.5 (Foden 46, 7) Subs (not used):
Ortega, Dias, Grealish, Gvardiol
BOURNEMOUTH (5-4-1): Radu 6; Aarons 6, Mepham 5 (Senesi 46, 6.5), Zabarnyi 6, Kelly 6.5, Kerkez 5.5; Christie 6, Scott 5 (Rothwell 44, 7), Billing 6 (Semenyo 71, 6), Tavernier 5 (Sinisterra 72, 7); Solanke 6 (Kluivert 85). Subs (not
used): Travers, Brooks, Ouattara, Smith.
Referee: C Pawson (South Yorkshire) 6.