Sergio Aguero bagged two goals to beat Bournemouth.
Thanks to Sergio Aguero's double, Manchester City emerged 3-1 winners at the Vitality Stadium against a Bournemouth side that will feel disappointed not to have taken anything out of an entertaining game.
Positives
Last week's touchline spat between Sergio Aguero and boss Pep Guardiola has had no lasting effect on the striker, who was at his clinical best to ensure City took home the three points, while Ederson was superb in goal after picking up an early yellow card.
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Negatives
City weren't quite at their creative best against a stubborn Bournemouth defence, while their own backline suffered a couple of nervous moments of their own making.
Manager rating out of 10
7 -- Pep Guardiola could easily have rotated his strikers following the public dispute with Aguero, but was rewarded for sticking by the Argentine with a match-winning brace.
Player ratings (1-10; 10 = best, players introduced after 70 minutes get no rating)
GK Ederson, 8 -- The Brazilian came storming out of his penalty area to take out the onrushing Callum Wilson for a yellow card in the opening quarter of an hour, before returning to his brilliant best to instinctively deny Adam Smith from close range at 1-0, followed by an alert second-half save when one-on-one with Wilson at 2-1.
DF Kyle Walker, 6 -- A couple of loose challenges saw him receive a yellow card early on, and that saw Walker descend into his shell as an attacking force.
DF Aymeric Laporte, 6 -- A beautiful switch of play started the build up for City's second goal, but a scruffy challenge on the edge of his own penalty area led to Harry Wilson's brilliant free kick.
DF Nicolas Otamendi, 6 -- A horror moment in the penalty area somehow went unpunished thanks to a brilliant point-blank save from Ederson in the first-half, and the Argentine looked the less accomplished of the City central defensive pairing. Booked late on for a poor challenge on Bournemouth's Josh King.
DF Oleksandr Zinchenko, 6 -- Very little to do from a defensive point of view for Zinchenko, but was given food for thought by Wilson's introduction just before the break.
MF Ikay Gundogan, 6 -- Kept things ticking over in the Manchester City midfield, without being particularly imposing on the game.
MF David Silva, 7 -- A sublime throughball released Sterling in the penalty area for a simple finish to make it 2-0, and his surging run into the box created the opening for Aguero to kill the game as a contest.
MF Kevin De Bruyne, 6 -- One of those games where nothing quite came off for the Belgian, including a scuffed shot that turned into a fortuitous assist for Aguero to open the scoring. Should really have killed the game off with a guilt-edged chance early in the second half, but shot wide.
MF Bernardo Silva, 6 -- Found most of his space on the right-hand side and provided some teasing balls into the penalty area that weren't put away by the City frontline.
MF Raheem Sterling, 7 -- A quiet first-half ended with a confident poked finish to put City in firm control of the game at 2-0, and Sterling was much more involved in City's attacking play in the second half.
ST Sergio Aguero, 8 -- A touch of good fortune saw the ball fall at the Argentine's feet before he expertly stroked the ball home for City's opener. Aguero then showed his instinctive side to find himself in the right place at the right time to tuck home a loose ball to put the game to bed just after the hour.
Substitutes
Rodri, 6 -- The Spaniard came on to provide an extra level of defensive security when Bournemouth were starting to grow in belief, but his side's third goal shortly after his introduction knocked the stuffing out the Cherries.
Riyad Mahrez, N/A -- Not enough time for the Algerian to make an impact on the game.
Joao Cancelo, N/A -- Had even less time.
Source: espn.co.uk