Manchester City suffered a shock 2-1 defeat at Bournemouth on Saturday that ended their 32-game unbeaten run in the Premier League.
Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson scored for the Cherries who claimed their first ever win over the visitors.
The result dropped City — who had not lost in the league since a 1-0 defeat by Aston Villa on Dec. 6 to second with 23 points after 10 matches, two points behind Liverpool.
Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth climbed to eighth on 15 points.
“We knew we couldn’t match the intensity,” City manager Pep Guardiola told the BBC.
“We’ve talked about it. It was an open game. We had chances at the end but I congratulate Bournemouth for the victory.”
Bournemouth were rewarded for their strong start with Semenyo’s ninth-minute goal.
Milos Kerkez superbly worked the ball up the left side to the byline before sending a low cross to Semenyo, who turned and beat goalkeeper Ederson.
Evanilson doubled the lead in the 64th when he latched onto Kerkez’s cross and slotted home.
City, who have been struggling with injuries to key players, made it a nervy finish after pulling a goal back in the 82nd minute when Josko Gvardiol leapt to meet Ilkay Gundogan’s cross, his looping header pushed in off the bar by keeper Mark Travers.
That came two minutes after City’s scoring machine Erling Haaland had his side’s first shot on target and the visitors kept the pressure on Travers, who had had little to do up to that point, and Bournemouth’s defence in the dying minutes.
Travers made a terrific save in added time to help secure Bournemouth’s win when he stopped Haaland’s header from close range. The striker then fired his own rebound off the post.
City have been hampered by a long list of injuries, although winger Jeremy Doku made a surprise return and the second-half substitute instantly made his presence felt.
Neither captain Kyle Walker nor key midfielder Kevin de Bruyne were expected to play either but the former started and the latter returned to the bench where he stayed.
Phil Foden also had a decent chance for City but dragged his shot wide of the net in the second half.
Haaland went down after a challenge from Lewis Cook just before the hour but VAR determined it was a fair tackle.
The Norwegian was on the ground for several minutes receiving treatment before continuing but could not find the net.
It was the second consecutive home victory for the south-coast side, who also stunned title hopefuls Arsenal 2-0 at the Vitality Stadium two weeks ago.
“It feels amazing,” forward Semenyo said. “The best team in the world. We made it tough for them and everyone is buzzing with the result. A win is a win. It doesn’t matter if it is one goal or three, we deserved it.
“We have belief,” added the 24-year-old. “We train hard every day and take it onto the pitch. Everyone is going to write us off but we know what we can do.” (Reuters/NAN)
