Dazzling De Bruyne: in-form Belgian superb in Manchester City’s 4-0 demolition of Bournemouth
Premier League champions Leicester City get back on track with 3-0 win over Burnley while Arsenal crush Hull City 4-1 and West Brom hand hapless West Ham a 4-2 beating
Pep Guardiola’s dream start to his Manchester City reign continued with an eighth win in eight matches in all competitions, with a scintillating English Premier League 4-0 victory over Bournemouth on Saturday being ignited by Kevin de Bruyne’s ingenuity at the Etihad.
The in-form Belgian scored a cheeky 15th minute free kick, deliberately firing beneath the wall of jumping defenders to set the league leaders on the way to a dazzling win, which preserved their 100 per cent record.
Amid some champagne football, Kelechi Iheanacho finished off a flowing team movement 10 minutes later before repaying Raheem Sterling’s goal assist with the pass that enabled the England international to make it three soon after the break.
Ilkay Gundogan, on his league debut, notched his first goal following more fine work from De Bruyne, who was involved in every goal, but Nolito’s needless late red card for aiming a headbutt at Adam Smith took some of the gloss from Guardiola’s ideal day.
“Our high pressing was not perfect today, we had problems with controlling the Bournemouth build-up, but we created a lot of counter-attacks,” said City manager Guardiola.