MAN CITY 3, AFC BOURNEMOUTH 1
Kevin De Bruyne made an emotional farewell appearance at the Etihad and captained Manchester City to a hugely important win against Bournemouth.
Forget the sentiment – City gave the club legend a magnificent send off – this was a big night for City three days after their defeat in the FA Cup final against Crystal Palace.
They began the night in sixth place and outside the Champions League places but ended it in third with their destiny now in their own hands.
A draw at Fulham on Sunday will guarantee a top five finish and qualification for Europe’s elite competition – they may already have done enough depending on other results.
Omar Marmoush scored a brilliant opener for City whose other goals came from Bernardo Silva and substitute Nico Gonzales.
Bournemouth’s goal came in stoppage time, a consolation from substitute Daniel Jebbison.
The night belonged to De Bruyne who brought the curtain down on his Etihad career spanning the 10 most successful years in the club’s history.
And on a personal note, De Bruyne played 421 matches – there is still Fulham on Sunday – scoring 108 goals and providing 177 assists.
City supporters stayed behind for half an hour to watch clips on De Bruyne’s finest moments, hear tributes from colleagues past and present before he took his wife Michelle and three children on a farewell lap of the pitch followed by the team.
De Bruyne, reflecting on his last match at the Etihad, said: “A bit weird. I don’t know. It’s been unbelievable to have the 10 years that I’ve had over here. It’s been an unbelievable ride, an absolute pressure, I don’t know.
“I want to bring joy to people, play offensive football, creative, that is what I am on the pitch, and I want to have fun. I think we had a lot of fun over the 10 years. You win, you lose sometimes. It was a joy working really hard and creating something for this club which brought the club much better than it was before. I’m super proud.”
And on the glaring miss to finish with a goal, De Bruyne said: “I said I just have to be there. It’s going to come. It’s terrible. There’s no excuses. My son is going to be very tough on me today.”
De Bruyne also spoke of his pride as the club is to erect a statue in his honour.
He said: “”It means I will always be part of this club. I always represent a small piece of that and whenever I come back with these guys and with family and friends, I will be able to see myself standing around the stadium. I will always be here.”
City manager Pep Guardiola explained the send off show how much love there is for De Bruyne.
Embed from Getty Images“The club took the decision. It is a sad day and he will be missed. On the other side it was a lovely day,” he said.
Guardiola added when De Bruyne arrived in 2015 he would not have been a fan.
“I am pretty sure he is now a Manchester City fan because of his connection with the club and the fans,” he explained.
Guardiola added Sunday’s match at Fulham will be a ‘final’ as they need a point to ensure Champions League qualification, but it won’t be easy as Marco Silva’s side has previously caused them problems.
“To be in the Champions League after what has happened this season will be nice,” he said.
Guardiola made four changes to the side beaten in Saturday’s FA Cup final by Crystal Palace.
But the big news was on the substitute’s bench when Ballon d’Or winner Rodri returns from injury for the first time since last September.
On the pitch, Ederson returned in goal, with recalls for Matheus Nunes, Ilkay Gundogan and Mateo Kovacic.
Stefan Ortega, Nico O’Reilly, Savinho and Jeremy Doku dropped out.
Bournemouthmade two changes to the side that were beaten by Aston Villa last time out.
Julian Araujo came in at right-back in place of Adam Smith and Justin Kluivert started in place for Alex Scott who suffered a fractured jaw in the previous game.
City-linked Milos Kerkez and centre-back Dean Huijsen, who will join Real Madrid this summer, both started for the Cherries.
De Bruyne led out City as captain to rapturous applause from the home fans.
Forget the emotion, City had a job to do as they needed a win to climb from sixth to third place.
And they quickly put Saturday’s disappointment behind them as Kovacic fizzed a drive just past the upright from 30 yards.
City were ahead in the 14th minute through a worldy from Marmoush, his eighth since his January move from Eintract Frankfurt.
The Egyptian picked up the ball on the edge of the centre circle before driving forward and unleashing a drive from 30 yards which arrowed into the top corner.
De Bruyne was denied a goal with one of the worst misses you will ever see.
Marmoush crossed from the left and De Bruyne was completely free at the far post but struck the bar from inside the six-yard box when he looked set to net his 109th goal for the club, a head-in-the- hands moment for the Belgian.
There was a let-off for City as the Cherries came within inches of levelling in the 33rd minute when Evanilson struck the upright from a cross by Marcus Tavernier.
City doubled their lead five minutes later when Gundogan cut the ball back for Bernardo Silva to find the net with a shot low past keeper Kepa Arrizabalaga for his fifth of the campaign.
And it would have been three before the break but for a fine reflex save by Arrizabalaga to keep out a low drive from Gundogan.
There was a huge cheer just after the hour when Rodri was sent to warm up along the touchline.
Marmoush tried another spectacular shot from distance which was deflected narrowly wide.
Bournemouth were handed a possible route back into the game when Kovacic was sent off in the 67th minute for hauling back Evanilson who was clean through on goal.
Guardiola’s response was to bring off De Bruyne to be replaced by Nico Gonzales to reinforce the midfield.
It was soon 10 against 10 when the Cherries had captain Lewis Cook sent off for a rash challenge on Gonzales.
And Rodri made his return after an absence of 241 days with eight minutes left when he replaced Erling Haaland.
City added a third in the 89th minute on the break as Gonzales, released by Matheus Nunes, ran at the Bournemouth defence before curling an exquisite effort beyond Arrizabalaga. It was only his second goal for the club following his arrival in January.
Guardiola made three further changes in stoppage time as Jack Grealish, Oscar Bobb and Doku replaced Marmoush, Gundogan and Silva.
Bournemouth scored a consolation in the sixth of six added minutes through substitute Daneil Jebbison.
Ruben Dias was caught out as Jebbison glided past him and fired past Ederson with the ball coming off the keeper and looping into the empty net for his third goal of the season.