Last-gasp Sterling chokes Cherries
MANCHESTER CITY captain Vincent Kompany described his side’s dramatic stoppage- time victory at Bournemouth as “absolute madness”, as Pep Guardiola’s side moved to the top of the table.
Bournemouth had never picked up a point against Manchester City in the Premier League and took the lead in stunning fashion through a spectacular Charlie Daniels strike from an angle which went in off the underside of the crossbar.
City levelled when a slide- rule pass from David Silva found Gabriel Jesus in the area to poke it past Asmir Begovic, before the Brazilian was involved again, as he tangled with Cherries defender Nathan Ake, who was fortunate not to see red for a foul as the last defender.
Sergio Aguero went close with a free- kick for the away side, as Bournemouth looked to hold on to a valuable point.
But then Raheem Sterling netted a deflected winner in the seventh minute of stoppage time, before being dismissed for a second bookable offence for leaving the field of play in celebration.
And in the chaos that followed, a Bournemouth stewart alleged he was assaulted by Sergio Aguero, a matter the police are now investigating.
Kompany said: “It is madness. First thing I did was go to (Benjamin) Mendy and( Be rnan do) Silva and said ‘welcome to the Premier League’.
“I thought we played well, just like we had against Everton.
“Wedeserved to win, but they made it incredibly hard for us.”
On the opening goal, the Belgian added: “I watched it back at half-time and said: ‘If we are going to concede goals like this, then just focus on scoring’, because it was just an unbelievable goal, from an angle as well that I thought was impossible.
“It goes to show that no matter how much you dominate the game, anything can happen at any time, therefore I am really happy, and what a strength of character to hang in there and finish it like we did.”
Bernardo Silva made his first start for City and got a rude awakening of how difficult England’s top-flight is.
The Portugal international said: “It was a tough match for us. I don’t think
we started well in the first five, 10 minutes, then we played well.
“I can see at the beginning that all the games are (going to be) difficult, all the teams are very competitive, but happily we got the three points, that is the most important thing.”
Cherries boss Eddie Howe was devastated that his side failed to pick up their first point of the season, but praised his players for their performance and believes better results are around the corner.
He said: “I’m very proud of the players. It was a difficult game, there’s no denying how good they are, we dug in and defended really well and made it difficult for City.
“We slowed the game down and looked like we were going to get a point. If we carry on with that spirit we will be fine and pick up a lot of points this season. It is very clear not to panic at this stage and it was a much improved performance in terms of mentality than quality.
“I thought we were the better side for 20 minutes, but then City showed their quality and it was difficult for us to get the ball.
“We counter- attacked very well and had some really good moments.”