Manchester City suffered a comprehensive defeat.

I don't understand why we lost!

A host of star players such as Jack Grealish, John Stones, Ruben Dias, Rodri… are absent. Kevin de Bruyne has only just recovered enough to… sit on the bench. Kyle Walker was predicted to be unavailable at this time, but ultimately he still appeared in the starting lineup. And Walker has become a prime example of Manchester City's failure.

Man City (right) suffered a defeat against Bournemouth, an opponent they knew all too well.

Normally, Walker is the dominant player on the right flank. Now, however, he struggled throughout the match, frequently being outplayed by Antoine Semenyo and Milos Kerkez of Bournemouth. Football is a competitive sport where your performance is partly determined by your opponents. Suddenly, Semenyo and Kerkez showed both creativity and strength in this game. Both of Bournemouth's goals, scored by Semenyo and Evanilson, came from the left wing (the same flank Walker usually covers for Man. City).

Speaking after the match, manager Pep Guardiola denied that injuries were a reason for Man City's defeat. He said: "Losing is losing. Sometimes we lose to a particular opponent at a particular time without understanding why. That's football."

At first glance, it might seem like Pep doesn't want to… blame anyone. But it's also possible he's deliberately concealing Man City's biggest concern at this time. Much had been said about Man City's injury situation before the match, seen as an opportunity for Bournemouth to spring a surprise, and also an opportunity for Liverpool to take the top spot. In fact, Bournemouth did win, and the top spot after 10 rounds went to Liverpool. Winning 2-1 against Brighton, Liverpool overtook Man City by two points (Arne Slot made history as the most successful manager in his first 10 league matches in charge of Liverpool).

Just a few days earlier, Man City had lost to Tottenham in the English League Cup. If Pep Guardiola admits Man City is weakened by a squad crisis, subsequent opponents will try to exploit this weakness to win. Like Bournemouth!

BOLDLY ATTACK AND DESERVE TO WIN

For Bournemouth, this was a historic victory. Finally, they achieved their first win against Man. City. Except for a few extremely strong opponents, the general situation of the remaining teams in the Premier League when facing Man. City is that they usually set up a low formation, playing mainly in their own half, focusing on defense. Bournemouth did not do that in this match. Bournemouth had one and a half times more accurate shots than Man. City. Bournemouth had 48 possessions and penetrated the opponent's third of the field, almost equal to Man. City (51). Except for the last ten minutes when they needed to prioritize defense to protect the victory, Bournemouth showed a "fair" attacking attitude against the champions. And Bournemouth showed superiority in all the important factors in a match: organization, physical fitness, tactical tightness and creativity in attack.

In short, Bournemouth's 2-1 victory was well-deserved and convincing. Semenyo opened the scoring within the first ten minutes, Evanilson added another goal midway through the second half. Towards the end of the match, defender Josko Gvardiol equalized for Man City, making the game exciting until the very last minute.

Did Bournemouth realize the champions' major weakness (losing many key players to injury) and therefore confidently impose a bold style of play, determined to win rather than simply avoid defeat? In one-on-one duels, Bournemouth players frequently prevailed. Semenyo dominated Walker, Illia Zabarnyi and Marcos Senesi outmaneuvered Erling Haaland, and Lewis Cook held off Phil Foden. Coach Guardiola admitted after the defeat: "We couldn't control the crucial situations." Of course, the starting eleven of Man City's team still featured well-known names. But it wasn't a cohesive lineup, and many individuals weren't in their best physical condition.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/manchester-city-thua-toan-dien-185241103184454371.htm