Erling Haaland had to settle for an assist on his home debut for Manchester City as Pep Guardiola's side cruised to victory over Bournemouth.
All eyes were on the prolific Norwegian after his Premier League bow brought a match-winning brace at West Ham last weekend, but instead it was Ilkay Gundogan, Kevin De Bruyne and Phil Foden who did the damage at the Etihad Stadium before a late own goal from Jefferson Lerma.
Haaland teed up Gundogan for the opener but finished the first half with barely more touches, five, than City had goals, three. There were signs of frustration but it would be hard to call the giant Norwegian peripheral to affairs, his movement freeing up space for others to prosper.
He should have scored too – with Foden guilty of failing to square the ball for an easy early tap-in before he scuffed a shot with his final touch and was replaced by Julian Alvarez midway through the second half.
As a pall of blue smoke hung over the pitch from pre-match fireworks, City wasted no time in putting Bournemouth under relentless pressure. Nathan Ake and Rodri both missed with unmarked headers as they won six corners in the opening ten minutes.
When a De Bruyne shot struck the heels of Foden, he swiftly controlled and brought a good save out of Mark Travers, but ignored the unmarked Haaland to his right.
It took another ten minutes for Haaland to even register his first touch. When he did, it was an assist.
He exchanged passes with Gundogan on the edge of the area, Haaland holding off two defenders to return the ball while off-balance, leaving Gundogan with the more straightforward task of lashing the ball into the same net where his dramatic late goal won the title for City 83 days earlier.
Haaland then mis-controlled an
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