Following their disappointing loss away to Aston Villa last week, Pep Guardiola would have demanded a response here against Bournemouth.
The Cherries thought they had stunned the hosts with 45 seconds on the clock after Eli Junior Kroupi fired in when unmarked in the box, but their joy was short-lived after he was found to be offside.
City took heed of that warning, and soon clicked into gear to deadly effect, as Erling Haaland ran onto Rayan Cherki’s flick on and raced through on goal before firing past Djordje Petrovic.
Andoni Iraola’s side were not here to lie down, however, and levelled the scoreline less than 10 minutes later, after Tyler Adams capitalised on Gianluigi Donnarumma flapping at Alex Scott’s corner kick, which allowed the American international to lash the loose ball home.
After drawing level, Bournemouth were punished by the PL’s leading scorer once again as they criminally allowed him to race through, round Petrovic and slide the ball in for his 13th league goal this season.
Bournemouth came out firing again once the second half got underway, and came close to levelling once again, but Donnarumma did well to deny Kroupi, following neat link-up play between David Brooks and Scott.
City once again stepped up a gear though, and following a neat spell of possession, Phil Foden poked the ball to Nico O’Reilly, who took a touch and composed himself before drifting into the box and firing into the far corner, surely putting the game beyond Bournemouth’s reach.
The third goal knocked the stuffing out of the Cherries, who struggled to get any breaks in the face of a resolute City backline.
Following a host of changes from both benches, the contest became a stop-start affair, but Pep’s men controlled the final moments with little trouble, easing to a win that lifted them up into second – a point above the Cherries, who dropped down into fourth.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Erling Haaland (Manchester City)