Haaland sets Man City record as champions crush Bournemouth

Haaland scored his 27th goal in 24 Premier League appearances, establishing a new single-season City record in the competition as he moved past Sergio Aguero's total of 26 in 2014-15.

Pep Guardiola's side were already leading at Dean Court through Julian Alvarez's early strike by the time Haaland netted.

Phil Foden's first league goal since November and a Chris Mepham own goal completed City's first win in their last three games in all competitions.

Arsenal's 1-0 win at Leicester earlier on Saturday had piled the pressure on City, who could ill afford to slip up for a second successive weekend.

They had blown the lead in a 1-1 draw at Nottingham Forest last Saturday, allowing Arsenal to reclaim top spot in the process.

City had also failed to hold onto their advantage in Wednesday's 1-1 draw at Leipzig in the Champions League last 16 first leg.

But City had never lost to Bournemouth in 18 previous meetings and they routed the strugglers for the second time this season to move within two points of Arsenal, who have a game in hand against Everton on Wednesday.

Despite his barrage of goals, Haaland had endured criticism over the last week amid a growing debate about his perceived flaws and possible negative impact on City this season.

Costly misses from Haaland in the Forest draw led some to question if City, champions in four of the past five seasons, are a less cohesive unit with the Norway striker in their line-up.

But Haaland's 33rd goal in 32 appearances in all competitions since signing from Borussia Dortmund last year should silence the doubters for a while at least.

Kevin de Bruyne was only fit enough to feature among the substitutes on his return from illness after missing the Leipzig tie.

That meant there was a place for