Kevin De Bruyne’s final home game for Manchester City ended in victory as they defeated Bournemouth 3-1 to move them closer to Champions League football.

Goals from Omar Marmoush and Bernardo Silva got the hosts off to a good start in the first half before Nico González added a third in the second half.

Daniel Jebbison scored late in injury time, but the single goal from the Cherries would put Brighton out of their reach before the final game of the season.

The First Half:

The opening ten minutes of the match saw both sides have attempts, as Kevin De Bruyne pulled the trigger in the opening minute of his final appearance at the Etihad in a Manchester City shirt. Only three minutes later, Justin Kluivert hit an attempt from a tight angle that was easily saved by Ederson in Manchester City’s goal. The end-to-end beginning to the match was soon brought to a halt as City began to take control of the match.

Pep Guardiola’s side were the ones to open the scoring through Omar Marmoush, who took his Premier League goal tally to eight for the season since signing in January. The Egyptian blasted his effort from 30 yards out past Kepa and into the top-left corner to give his side an important lead.

Less than two minutes later, Kevin De Bruyne had a golden opportunity to score on his final Etihad appearance. The fans were ready to celebrate when Marmoush squared the ball to the Belgian, who was completely unmarked in the box. However, the 33-year-old struck the ball against the crossbar in what was an unbelievable miss by the midfield maestro.

Bournemouth came close to equalising in the 33rd minute. Evanilson ran on to the end of a cross from James Tavenier. The Brazilian guided the ball towards the goal, but his effort hit the post, denying the Cherries a precious goal.

Manchester City doubled their lead eventually through Bernardo Silva in the 38th minute. Mateo Kovacic played the ball through to Ilkay Gündogan, who cut the ball back for the Portuguese winger. The effort was struck low with power as City took a big step towards Champions League football once again.

Manchester City were deservedly in the lead at half-time as Pep Guardiola’s side had an xG of 1.33 to Bournemouth’s 0.64. The hosts had 63% of the ball in the opening half, continuing their trend of having the highest percentage of the ball in the Premier League this season.

Bournemouth were sluggish in the first half, something that has been extremely rare for Iraola’s side this season. They would need to show much more intensity than they had in the opening half if they wanted to turn the match in their favour.

The Second Half:

Manchester City continued to knock on the door in the early stages of the second half as they looked to add a third goal to the tally to all but secure a return to the Champions League positions in the Premier League table. Bournemouth were still struggling to match the pace of Guardiola’s side.

The game would take a twist in the 67th minute when Evanilson ran on to the end of a loose back-pass from Josko Gvardiol. Kovacic brought down the striker in a challenge that was deemed as a denial of a clear goalscoring opportunity by the referee, who produced the red card to take City down to ten men.

This consequently led to the substitution of Kevin De Bruyne, who exited the Etihad Pitch for a final time, to applause from both sets of fans and players ahead of his final outing as a Manchester City player in the Premier League.

Bournemouth did not have a one-man advantage for long as a challenge from Lewis Cook brought the Cherries down to ten men. The midfielder did win the ball, but followed through on substitute Nico González, which was enough for the referee to once again produce a straight red card.

The Etihad once again erupted into applause, this time to welcome back a player who had spent the majority of the season out of action. After almost eight months, Rodri was entering the pitch in what would be a substantial boost to Manchester City ahead of their final game of the season.

Any chance of Bournemouth finding a way back into this game had now gone, with Manchester City adding insult to injury when Nico González struck his first Premier League goal of the season. Matheus Nunes played the ball over to the Spaniard, who brought it down and curled the ball perfectly into the top right corner to seal the victory for the hosts.

Bournemouth got a consolation goal late on through Daniel Jebbison. The substitute beat Ruben Dias to Nunes’ overhit backpass and placed his shot under Ederson. The ball took a deflection and bounced into the back of the net to deny Manchester City a clean sheet despite looking comfortable for the entirety of the match.

City would claim a vital three points that put them one step closer to Champions League Football, now sitting in 3rd place ahead of Newcastle and Chelsea in 4th and 5th, respectively. Bournemouth are now unable to catch Brighton in 8th, as the Cherries now sit in tenth behind Fulham and Brentford.

The Teams:

Manchester City: Ederson; M. Nunes, R. Dias, M. Akanji, J. Gvardiol; M. Kovacic, I. Gundogan (J. Grealish 90+2′); B. Silva (J. Doku 90+2′), K. De Bruyne (N. González 69′), O. Marmoush (O. Bobb 90+1′); E. Haaland (Rodri 83′).

Booked: M. Kovacic (Red Card), Ederson

Unused Substitutes: S. Ortega, N. Aké, N. O’Reilly, P. Foden

Bournemouth: Kepa; J. Araujo (A. Smith 69′), I. Zabarnyi, D. Huijsen, M. Kerkez (J. Soler 83′); T. Adams, L. Cook; M. Tavernier, J. Kluivert (D. Brooks 46′), A. Semenyo; Evanilson (D. Jebbison 83′).

Booked: D. Huijsen, J. Araujo, L. Cook (Red Card), M. Tavernier

Unused Substitutes: W. Dennis, M. Senesi, M. Akinmboni, Z. Silcott-Duberry, B. Winterburn