Erling Haaland marked his return to the starting XI with a brace as Manchester City beat high-flying Bournemouth 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, Afrosport reports.
Back after missing the midweek cup win at Swansea through injury, Haaland opened the scoring in the 17th minute, drilling home from Rayan Cherki’s through ball.
Bournemouth hit back eight minutes later through Tyler Adams, who converted from close range after a goalmouth scramble following an Alex Scott corner.
Haaland restored City’s lead in the 33rd minute, racing onto another Cherki pass, rounding goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic and slotting into an empty net for his 13th Premier League goal of the season — and a fourth successive home brace in the league. The Norwegian, who joined City in 2022, is now only two shy of reaching a century of Premier League in just 107 appearances.
City took control just after the hour mark when academy product Nico O’Reilly capped off a flowing team move, finishing confidently from a Phil Foden pass. Bournemouth pushed late on, but City saw out the match comfortably.
⬆️ @ManCity return to winning ways and go up to second pic.twitter.com/KybsENfyBg
— Premier League (@premierleague) November 2, 2025
Speaking after the game, Haaland said: “Important win. it’s good to bounce back after losing a bad away game [last week against Aston Villa], so it was nice.”
On scoring goals, he added: “I try to contribute for the team, doing my job and we won again. It’s good to win. Now, two more important games before the international break — keep focused.”
The victory was City’s fifth in six across all competitions and lifts Pep Guardiola’s side to second, six points behind leaders Arsenal. They now turn their attention to Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Borussia Dortmund, before hosting Liverpool next weekend.
Bournemouth’s eight-game unbeaten league run ends with the defeat, and they drop to fourth ahead of a difficult trip to Aston Villa.
