Bournemouth defeat Manchester City for the first time in history. (AP)
Bournemouth pulled off the mother of all upsets when they shocked champions Manchester City 2-0 in the Premier League on Saturday. This was also the Cherries’ first win ever against City who lost for the first time this season.
Antoine Semenyo put the hosts in the lead in the 9th minute before Evanilson doubled their lead in the 64th minute while Joško Gvardiol pulled one back for City in the 82nd minute. City had the lion’s share of the possession but it mattered little when the final whistle blew.
This was the Cherries’ biggest win since they upset title challengers Arsenal in the same ground on October 19.
Pep Guardiola’s side had a less than stellar afternoon with City having 4 shots on target all match as opposed to Bournemouth’s 6. It’s even more damning that City’s first on target came in the 80th minute courtesy of an Erling Haaland shot which the Bournemouth keeper Mark Travers saved.
Travers even pulled off an excellent save in the 3rd minute of stoppage time to deny Haaland as Bournemouth held on to the slender lead.
Meanwhile, Liverpool defeated Brighton 2-1 with goals from Mohamed Salah and Cody Gakpo to go top of the table with 25 points while City drop down to 2nd with 23 points.
Earlier in the day, Arsenal slumped to a 1-0 loss at Newcastle United for the second year in a row on Saturday to make it three straight Premier League games without a win for the Gunners.
Alexander Isak’s early header was enough for Eddie Howe’s team to end a five-game winless run in the league as the hosts easily neutralized Arsenal’s struggling attack the rest of the way.
Newcastle was coming off a morale-boosting win over Chelsea in the League Cup in midweek and carried that momentum into the start of the game, as Isak found space in-between Arsenal centre-backs William Saliba and Gabriel to head home a pinpoint cross from Anthony Gordon in the 12th minute.
