Manchester Metropolis knew they needed to be at their greatest to beat a troublesome AFC Bournemouth aspect on the Etihad on Sunday afternoon.
Fortunately, Erling Haaland scored two extra objectives for Metropolis in Sky Blue, taking his tally to an untouchable 13 objectives from simply 10 encounters and main the hosts to a convincing 3-1 victory.
The herculean striker has already scored a mind-boggling 25 objectives for membership and nation this season, and Guardiola was understandably jubilant when the full-time whistle blew, because the Norwegian’s lethal edge proved to be an important difference-maker.
However he wasn’t the one unstoppable attacker to impress in opposition to the Cherries, with Rayan Cherki additionally going about his enterprise effortlessly and being the right team-mate to bounce again from the lethal No.9.
Cherki’s excellent efficiency in opposition to Bournemouth
Even earlier than the match began, the previous Lyon playmaker was talked about in glowing phrases, with Sky Sports activities’ Jiří Christiansen ranking him as “a participant of the best high quality”.
His fashionable efficiency in opposition to Andoni Iraola’s aspect earned him an enormous reward after the match. The elusive Frenchman adopted up his objective and help in opposition to Swansea Metropolis with two assists in opposition to the Cherries, including to Haaland’s ever-growing objective tally in England.
Cherki bought the ball rolling for Metropolis with a header previous Haaland simply after 16 minutes and, along with his second help of the evening, caught out the South Coast crew’s protection with an intricate go and Metropolis’s lethal No. 9 deservedly fired dwelling.
Having received 100 per cent of his tackles and exhibiting some grit in a different recreation, Cherki is for certain to remain on for Wednesday evening’s tough Champions League recreation in opposition to Guardiola’s Borussia Dortmund, and might be anticipated to unleash the black and yellow defence, just like his excellent efficiency in opposition to Bournemouth.
Nevertheless, one impediment that may very well be stopping Cherki from gaining first-team recognition is his repeated damage issues. One other teammate within the middle of the park can also be making ready to turn out to be an necessary face of the primary crew on a weekly foundation after one other spectacular efficiency within the center.
8/10 star who’s now as onerous to drop as Haaland
After his unimaginable help numbers have been tallied, it may very well be mentioned that the quantity 10 pale from the competition considerably.
Alternatively, Nico Gonzalez was Metropolis’s central determine and gave his all all through as Tijani Rejnders was pressured to sit down on the bench because of damage.
Gonzalez’s efficiency in numbers | |
|---|---|
standing | gonzalez |
Play time (minutes) | 90 |
Variety of factors scored | 0 |
help | 0 |
contact | 79 |
precise path | 57/63 (90%) |
sort out win | 1/1 |
intercept | 3 |
blocked shot | 1 |
Variety of balls collected | 8 |
Whole variety of duels received | 4/6 |
Statistics by Couch Rating | |
Gonzalez, making his sixth begin for Metropolis within the Premier League this season, produced maybe his greatest efficiency of the season up to now, recovering the ball eight occasions and profitable 4 duels. The previous Porto star additionally managed to complete the sport with a excessive passing accuracy of 90%, freely giving little or no of the ball.
Bournemouth will fail to show the sport round, because of the Spaniard’s continued switch-on all through. Due to this fact, based on Sofascore, Cherki, in distinction, received solely 30% of his duels and, regardless of scoring two objectives in opposition to Haaland, additionally had a poor passing accuracy of 85%.
The aforementioned Lijnders has additionally struggled to turn out to be the Rodri-type determine that Metropolis so desperately need amidst his latest damage absences, however which means that the 54-year-old Gonzalez may very well be seen as a key a part of Guardiola’s beginning XI, relying closely on the unmistakable Scandinavian to steer the road with venom.
Manchester Night Information journalist Simon Bakowski rewarded the 23-year-old’s spectacular evening with a constructive post-match ranking of 8/10, noting that his regular presence in midfield for the ultimate 45 minutes of the match introduced the “calmness and authority” wanted to get the sport underway.
The three-1 win strikes Metropolis into second place within the early league tables, however Guardiola is nicely conscious that it’ll take an unimaginable effort from the crew to meet up with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal, and he hopes Gonzalez, who performed assuredly and strongly on the Etihad, might be helpful subsequent to Haaland in the long run.
