Haaland brace fires Manchester City to second
Erling Haaland scored another brace as Manchester City beat Bournemouth 3-1 to go second in the Premier League table.
Haaland entered the game having scored twice in each of his last three outings on home soil in the competition, and he extended that run with two clinical first-half finishes at the Etihad Stadium.
The Norwegian raced through on goal to put City ahead in the 17th minute, having been fed by Rayan Cherki's clever header from near halfway.
Bournemouth briefly got back on level terms in the 25th minute, with Tyler Adams hooking into an empty net after Gianluigi Donnarumma miscued his punch from Alex Scott's corner.
City was back in front within eight further minutes, as Haaland latched onto Cherki's defence-splitting pass, rounded Djordje Petrovic, and tucked home.
City should have extended its lead before half-time, but Alex Jimenez turned Nico O'Reilly's centre off the line and Petrovic was equal to a dinked effort from Haaland and a curling free-kick from Cherki.
Eli Kroupi – who had earlier seen a goal disallowed for a clear offside – wasted two decent chances early in the second half, but Bournemouth's hopes of a fightback were killed off when O'Reilly took in Phil Foden's pass and finished across goal in the 60th minute.
City, which also welcomed Rodri back from injury as a late substitute, climbed to within six points of Arsenal, while Bournemouth is one point further back in fourth.
