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David Silva marked his 400th Manchester City appearance with two assists and Sergio Ag\u00fcero scored twice as the Premier League champions returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth.<\/p>\nDavid Silva marked his 400th Manchester City appearance with two assists and Sergio Ag\u00fcero scored twice as the Premier League champions returned to winning ways with a 3-1 win at Bournemouth.<\/p>\n
Experienced Spaniard Silva laid on goals either side of half-time for Raheem Sterling and Ag\u00fcero to help Pep Guardiola\u2019s side bounce back from last weekend\u2019s frustrating draw with Tottenham.<\/p>\n
Ag\u00fcero opened the scoring inside 15 minutes at the Vitality Stadium before rounding off proceedings after in-form Sterling had claimed his sixth goal of the season.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth substitute Harry Wilson briefly gave the hosts hope by reducing the deficit to 2-1 with a stunning 25-yard free-kick in first-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n
But the day belonged to stand-out performer Silva, who repeatedly carved open the home defense and was also denied what looked to be a clear second-half penalty.<\/p>\n
Guardiola\u2019s team last week saw their 15-match winning run in the league ended by Spurs after a last-gasp Gabriel Jesus strike was chalked off following a contentious handball by Aymeric Laporte which was picked up by VAR.<\/p>\n
Brazil forward Jesus was a notable absentee on the visitors\u2019 bench on Sunday having sustaining a hamstring injury in training which is expected to keep sidelined until after next month\u2019s international break.<\/p>\n
Silva, meanwhile, captained the side having replaced \u00a363million record signing Rodri in the only change made by Guardiola.<\/p>\n
City dominated possession on the south coast but also survived some shaky moments.<\/p>\n
With 13 minutes on the clock, City keeper Ederson escaped with a yellow card after racing out of his box and clattering Callum Wilson wide on the Bournemouth left.<\/p>\n
Sections of the home support bayed for more severe punishment from referee Andre Marriner and their frustration was compounded two minutes later.<\/p>\n
Neat interplay by Spanish midfielder Silva and left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko led to Kevin De Bruyne scuffing an attempted shot into the path of Ag\u00fcero and the Argentinian took a touch before calmly slotting into the bottom-left corner.<\/p>\n
De Bruyne\u2019s inadvertent assist was his 50th in 123 Premier League appearances, breaking Mesut Ozil\u2019s record of 141 for the fewest matches required to reach the milestone.<\/p>\n
The hosts suffered a further setback in the 37th minute when Charlie Daniels, who recently returned from a long-term knee injury, was carried off on a stretcher with a similar problem and replaced by Liverpool loanee Wilson.<\/p>\n
City continued to wobble defensively and Nicolas Otamendi almost gifted the hosts an equalizer a minute later.<\/p>\n
The Argentinian foolishly opted to chest down the ball inside his own box, allowing Adam Smith to nip in and see his close-range effort unwittingly thwarted by the head of Ederson.<\/p>\n
It was more difficult to fault the away side\u2019s attacking play and they went further ahead two minutes before the break.<\/p>\n
After collecting a pass from Bernardo Silva, David Silva slipped in Sterling, allowing the England forward to poke home his 11th goal in 10 outings against the Cherries.<\/p>\n
City had won each of the previous eight Premier League meetings between the clubs, registering an aggregate score of 25-3.<\/p>\n
Any hopes they had of easing to another emphatic victory were dealt a blow deep into first-half stoppage time.<\/p>\n
Callum Wilson was fouled by French defender Laporte 25 yards from goal and winger Harry Wilson, who opened his Bournemouth account at Aston Villa last week, produced an unstoppable left-footed free-kick which flew into the top-right corner off the angle of post and crossbar.<\/p>\n
The second half began in frenetic fashion with England striker Callum Wilson denied by Ederson after getting goal-side of Laporte, before De Bruyne curled narrowly wide at the other end.<\/p>\n
City were then denied what appeared to a clear spot-kick when Jefferson Lerma stood on the foot of star man Silva. A VAR review surprisingly ruled no penalty but City did not have to wait long to restore their two-goal advantage.<\/p>\n
Bournemouth conceded possession cheaply from a Smith throw-in, allowing David Silva to jink into the box before Ag\u00fcero applied the final touch with a stabbed finish.<\/p>\n
The Cherries pushed for a way back into the game but were unable to prevent a first defeat of the campaign as City\u2019s dominance of this fixture continued.<\/p>\n