Manchester City 3-1 Bournemouth: Premier League – as it happened

Kevin De Bruyne leaves the City stage. Here’s Will Unwin’s report, so it’s time for me to say goodbye, too.

KDB speaks:

Manchester is home. Manchester is where these little kids are born. I came here with my wife, Michele, to stay here for a long time. I didn’t expect to be here 10 years to do what we have as a club, supporters, my teammates.

We won everything. We made the city, the club bigger. Now they’re going to take over.

I wanted to play with creativity, I wanted to play with passion. I wanted to enjoy football and I hope and think everyone enjoyed it.

Everybody here has pushed me so hard from inside and outside the club to be the best version of myself.

It’s been an absolute honour to play with these guys. I’ve made so many friends for life.

Time for De Bruyne to speak some more, once the fans stop chanting. The tears are coming, from him and Pep. A video tribute is played on the big screen as former City players and his family share messages.

There’s a light show at the Etihad as Kevin De Bruyne gets a guard of honour, walking through it with his young family.

Kevin De Bruyne speaks to Sky Sports:

“It’s been unbelievable, to have the 10 years that I had. It’s been an unbelievable ride.

“I wanted to have fun and we had a lot of fun these 10 years.

On his open-goal miss: “Terrible, terrible, terrible. There’s no excuses. My son is going to be very tough on me.”

No clean sheet but City have three points. Kevin De Bruyne can do his farewell laps around the ground.

A wayward pass back from Nunes is seized upon by Jebbison, who beats Dias to it, and the Bournemouth forward slots in despite Ederson getting a chunk on it.

A strange way to finish proceedings.

90+5 min Doku has space to venture into on the right but resists as City recycle the ball around.

90+4 min Akanji shields the ball to win City a goalkick. ‘Oh, Kevin De Bruyne’ gets another play from the fans.

90+2 min We have six minutes left to play as City wheel through some more subs. Doku, Bobb and Grealish enter the fray.

It’s a beautifully taken goal by Nico González, breaking through the middle of the field to pick up a dinked pass by Matheus Nunes. He has an option to his left but goes on his own, shimmying away before curling in from the edge of the area.

That wraps things up.

88 min Madness from Kepa as he finds himself in the centre circle, trying to win the ball. He doesn’t get it but Zabarnyi cleans up behind him.

87 min Brooks continues his lively work but his low ball across goal from the left can’t find a teammate.

86 min Bournemouth patiently work it around the City area before Soler’s cross is blocked out for a corner. It doesn’t cause any bother.

84 min Kerkez has gone off for Soler, while Jebbison has replaced Evanilson.

82 min Here he comes, the Ballon D’Or winner. Haaland is off and he gives Rodri a big hug. The midfield general is back from a lengthy injury lay-off.

81 min Marmoush lines it up … and curls the ball wide. City fans are getting excited about the sight of Rodri getting ready to come on.

80 min It’s a shame that De Bruyne’s off because Haaland’s won a free-kick just outside the D.

79 min Bernardo Silva, still hopping about like a seven-year-old after a bag of Haribo, does his dirty work at the back to nick the ball off Kerkez.

77 min City play pass-pass-pass, sucking out the game’s intensity.

76 min Nico Gonzalez is up and about and the game resumes, both sides on equal footing.

73 min Smith, on at right-back for Bournemouth, crosses after finding acres of space. Oh, what’s this … another red! Lewis Cook, with his studs high, rashly jumps into a challenge on Nico in the centre circle and it’s a straightforward red.

71 min City should still be fine from here, right?

69 min That’s it for Kevin De Bruyne at the Etihad. He gets called off and receives a rousing ovation. A club legend and one of the finest midfielders the Premier League has seen. Nico Gonzalez is on.

67 min Out of nowhere, some drama. Gvardiol misplaces a backpass and Evanilson latches on to it, though he’s still miles out from goal. Kovacic, the last man back for City, pulls the striker down and receives a straight red.

66 min The corner is diverted away but City string together pass after pass, with Bournemouth forced to huff and puff.

65 min Marmoush wants another banger: he tries a curler from distance this time, and a deflection brings another corner.

64 min Zabarnyi gets there in the nick of time to stop Haaland inside the Bournemouth area. City’s consolation is a corner.

63 min Brooks breaks down the left but he only has Evanilson to play to in the middle … the cross finds Ederson.

62 min Rodri gets loads of love as he warms up on the touchline. How they’ve missed him this season.

61 min Bournemouth are seeing more of the ball but Kovacic slides to intercept as City break, the game now one of open spaces and more end-to-end.

59 min Semenyo turns on the blasters, cutting in from the right and letting fly from inside the D … but he goes for power over placement and lashes wide.

58 min Brooks has been impressive since coming on and Bournemouth are starting to working it nicely down the left-hand side, trying to carve out space for Kerkez.

56 min Kerkez crosses and has runners waiting in the middle … but Brooks, stretching every sinew, can’t get his right foot on the end of it.

55 min … De Bruyne whips an outswinger that doesn’t deliver any danger.

54 min De Bruyne’s shot inside the area is blocked by Huijsen and City have a corner …

53 min Semenyo commits a couple of fouls in quick succession. It’s been a pretty dull start to the second half.

51 min De Bruyne breaks free through the middle and tries to play in Marmoush but the move ends with Nunes striking high and wide from range.

50 min Kerkez is starting to look a threat but has his cross from the left blocked.

49 min Semenyo intercepts to kick-start a Bournemouth move but City retreat quickly.

48 min The ‘Oh, Kevin De Bruyne’ chants continue to ring out.

47 min Bournemouth attack down the left, with the dangerous Kerkez whipping in a cross. Evanilson gets a head on it … but with no power or direction.

46 min The game resumes with Bournemouth making a change: Brooks replaces Kluivert.

A correction on that Evanilson miss after the half-hour mark; the cross met his right shin, not the foot. It would’ve been one of the finest team goals of the season.

That Marmoush goal was rather cracking. “A slo-mo of that shot shows the striker with both feet several feet off the ground immediately after impacting the ball,” writes Tim Smith. “Talk about putting everything into a shot. Genuinely, unstoppable thunderbarstard!”

Shaun in Nottingham writes in about that De Bruyne miss.

He’s going to get a ton of ‘miss of the season’ comments and all that stuff, but as a striker who scored a lot of goals (several hattricks, some 5s some 4s) I have some important details to consider.

Firstly, the ball is slightly behind him, and secondly it’s at pace, so he has to take it with his ‘wrong’ foot as he’s slightly ahead of the ball. Finally, crucially, watch it closely and you’ll see the ball pop up, so it’s easy to shin or slice that one upwards.

I did the same thing once, but put it over the bar.

Anyway, just saying. Details are important.

Manchester City have been largely untroubled. Their only frustration will be De Bruyne blasting the bar when he had an open goal in front of him.

45+1 min A terrific block from Nunes denies Kluivert inside the City area, though he didn’t really nail the strike to begin with.

45 min De Bruyne’s ball in is dinked and Kepa punches away before Gündogan unleashes from outside the area … Kepa reacts well to save with so many shirts blocking his view. We have two minutes added on.

44 min Time for another Bournemouth yellow as Araujo takes down Gvardiol, handing City a free-kick on the left. The De Bruyne chants resume as he stands over the ball alongside Silva.

42 min City are wheeling the ball around with total calm.

Bournemouth are a touch sloppy as City attack and attack, with Kovacic playing the ball into the area, Gündogan seizing on to it to deliver a pull-back, and Bernardo Silva, tracked by no one, is on hand by the six-yard line to lace a low finish past Kepa.

Silva gets in on the fun and City are in total control.

36 min Huijsen goes into the book for a foul on Gündogan. Might as well be a bit naughty before the move abroad.