AFC Bournemouth were comfortably beaten 4-1 by an impressive Manchester City at the Vitality Stadium.
Three first-half goals from Julian Alvarez, Erling Haaland and Phil Foden essentially ended the game before half-time.
An own-goal at the very start of the second half from Chris Mepham put the result beyond all doubt.
However, the Cherries did have bright spells during the game, and were rewarded for their efforts when Jefferson Lerma scored a consolation late on.
In the end, it was a routine win for Pep Guardiola’s men as they continue their title fight.
Although City started the brightest, it was Bournemouth who had the first chance of the game with Dominic Solanke failing to get a good connection from Jordan Zemura’s cross.
A few minutes later City had their first attempt of the match when Rodri hit an optimistic long-range strike over the bar.
However, City managed to put the ball in the back of the net less than ten minutes later when Erling Haaland’s shot hit the crossbar and dropped for Julian Alvarez to tap into an empty net.
Just after, some cherries fans felt their team should’ve had a penalty when Dominic Solanke was brought down in the box, but nothing was given.
Bournemouth’s misfortunes continued quickly afterwards as City made it 2-0 when Ilkay Gundogan’s cross hit Phil Foden in the middle and gave Erling Haaland a simple finish.
The cherries then attempted to provide an immediate response, although Jefferson Lerma’s long-range effort fired over the crossbar.
Bournemouth then kept applying the pressure, with Adam Smith’s shot having to be headed over by Ruben Dias, and then a narrow-angled shot by Hamed Traore needing to be saved by Ederson.
However, that amounted to nothing, and then Bournemouth gifted City a third goal just before half time as Phillip Billing essentially squared the ball for Phil Foden for another simple finish.
Unsurprisingly, Man City came flying out of the blocks in the second half and grabbed a fourth when Chris Mepham turned Alvarez’s shot into his own net.
The Cherries did have some opportunities following that goal, with a huge scramble in the box resulting in another penalty shout for the home team, although a quick VAR check showed that the ball did not touch Kalvin Phillips’ hand.
Eventually, Bournemouth did get a deserved consolation when Jefferson Lerma hit a half-volley inside the box.
The goal appeared to bring some new life to Gary O’Neil’s side, with Jaidon Anthony curling an effort just wide of the post shortly afterwards.
Unfortunately for the home side though, they couldn’t find a second goal and the game ended with a deserved 4-1 win for Manchester City.
Bournemouth finish the weekend 19th in the table, one point off climbing out the relegation spaces, with Manchester City remaining in second place, two points off leaders Arsenal.
The Cherries’ next fixture is away at Arsenal on Saturday 4th March.