Manchester City move top after Riyad Mahrez winner breaks Bournemouth resilience

AFC Bournemouth 0-1 Manchester City: Mahrez has not exactly shone since City paid £60million for him, but this goal was worth more than everything else he has done so far for the club

Riyad Mahrez celebrates what proved to be the winner (Getty)

Title chases produce unlikely heroes and here in Bournemouth it was Riyad Mahrez who scored the goal that put Manchester City two points clear at the top the table. Mahrez has not exactly shone since City paid £60million for him, but this goal was worth more than everything else he has done so far for City put together.

It was Mahrez who stabbed the ball past Artur Boruc at the start of the second half, just minutes after he had come on for Kevin De Bruyne. That was the only time City beat Boruc all afternoon, the rest of the game following a pattern of steady City possession – 82 per cent overall – and solid Bournemouth defending. City needed something different, something unusual, to break their way through. And it came from the man who had not scored in the Premier League since 4 December.

The fact that City lost De Bruyne and John Stones to injuries either side of half-time could cost them in their push for three more trophies in the next three months. But that can wait. To see the glee of Guardiola and the players at the end here was to see a team who finally look as if they might just have the edge in the title race. They will watch tomorrow’s Merseyside derby with interest.

City were also delighted because, in contrast to so many games against Bournemouth in the past, they had to work until the final the seconds to win this one. And the real story of the first half did not belong to City but to Bournemouth. Eddie Howe has never been a manager to park the bus, always preferring to go out, play his way and take the consequences. But last month his team lost 3-0 at Liverpool and 5-1 at Arsenal, and those defeats had a chastening effect. So here, in a game he usually tries to attack, Howe decided to defend.

This meant a 5-4-1 system, with the Bournemouth players tightly packed in their own half. They had three centre-backs and in effect two right backs, with Adam Smith there to help out Nathaniel Clyne. And they were all happy to sit back and allow City to dominate the ball.

City like to cut through teams but here they only did that once in a frustrating first half. Bernardo Silva found De Bruyne, running in behind, and he quickly crossed to David Silva, arriving in the box. It was the type of goal City score every week but this time Silva shot wide.

Beyond that the pattern was predictable: City pass the ball around, work it wide, cross, Bournemouth head it away. And with Sergio Aguero up against three centre-backs it did not look like an obviously dangerous tactic. Even by the end of the first half City were looking for something unusual to come off, Sterling shooting over from far out, Otamendi volleying a corner over from the edge of the box. It felt as if this game would be decided by something surprising, rather than just City’s Plan A.

Adam Smith attempts to get away from Raheem Sterling (Getty)

But what turned it for City, in fact, felt like bad luck at the time. Right at the end of the first half De Bruyne felt a twinge in his leg and immediately knew he had to come off. Mahrez came on, out on the right wing, with Bernardo Silva moving into midfield. And it only took 10 minutes of the second half – during which John Stones also limped off – for Mahrez to turn the game.

Oleksandr Zinchenko drove in from the left, found David Silva, and the ball broke back to Silva in the box. He stabbed a pass out to the right where Mahrez ran onto it, and he hit a quick finish in at the near post, beating the slow dive of Artur Boruc down to his left. It was exactly the type of sharp movement, instinctive action, that City had lacked in that flat first half. It was Mahrez’s first league goal for three months, but it was so much more than that.

Artur Boruc denies Manchester City a goal during the first half (REUTERS)

Suddenly Bournemouth had to un-park the bus and move it upfield. And as they did so City finally had more room to play in, more space for Sterling to attack. When Bernardo Silva played a brilliant through ball to Sterling his shot was tipped wide by Boruc. The next time he ran onto a weak back header Boruc flew out to get a crucial touch.

Every time City went forward they looked likelier to score, and when Aguero was left with too much space in a crossing position he clipped the ball over Boruc, only for it to hit the bar instead. Mahrez could have had another from a corner only for Boruc to produce yet another save. Mahrez had to settle with one goal, but it could be the most important goal of his time at this club