Donnarumma's Challenge and Cherki's Impact in Bournemouth Match

Donnarumma helpless for opener but Cherki steals the show off the bench

Gianluigi Donnarumma could only watch Bournemouth’s opener flash past him, but he refused to let the game drift away. The goalkeeper pulled off a sharp low stop to deny Justin Kluivert and reacted superbly to claw away Daniel Jebbison’s glanced header. Little blame for the goal, plenty of credit for keeping the scoreline alive. Rating: 6

Rico Lewis spent the afternoon stepping inside from right-back, often popping up in central areas as City tried to overload midfield. He even forced an early save with a well-timed run and shot. Then the quality dropped. Loose touches, passes that didn’t quite land, and his influence faded before he was hooked. Rating: 5

Abdukodir Khusanov endured a difficult moment at the worst possible time. He dived in on Rayan in the build-up to Bournemouth’s first goal, missed the challenge, and never got back to repair the damage. That single lapse defined his afternoon. Rating: 5

New captain Ruben Dias will not enjoy the replay of the opener either. A straightforward long ball sailed over him, he misjudged the flight, and Bournemouth pounced. For a defender usually so commanding, it was a rare but costly misread. Rating: 5

Josko Gvardiol drifted in and out of the game, the familiar question lingering: left-back or centre-back, where is he truly at home? For Bournemouth’s goal, he was nowhere in the picture. Deep into added time, he suddenly was. Arriving with composure when it mattered most, the Croatian buried a cool injury-time winner and flipped the narrative on its head. Rating: 7

Marc Guehi found himself in unfamiliar territory as a holding midfielder, a role that asked him to screen rather than marshal the back line. It wasn’t always smooth, but he kept going and was rewarded late on, popping up with an equaliser that shifted the mood. With Ayyoub Bouaddi set to arrive, this midfield experiment may prove to be a one-off – but he left his mark. Rating: 6

Club-record signing Elliot Anderson offered flashes of why the club invested so heavily. He covered ground relentlessly, tracked runners, and often snuffed out danger before it grew. The final product wasn’t fully there yet, but the intent and work-rate were. Rating: 6

Antoine Semenyo had promised plenty in pre-season, full of direct running and confidence. That version never truly emerged here. He struggled to stamp any authority on the contest and drifted to the fringes as the game wore on. Rating: 5

Nico O’Reilly operated in the No 10 role, tasked with threading passes and unlocking Bournemouth’s back line. The ideas were there, the execution less so. Clear chances from his creativity were rare, and he made way on the hour. Rating: 5

Phil Foden started like he owned the pitch. Constantly on the ball, he knitted attacks together and produced a delightful flick to send Lewis through for an early chance. Then the influence ebbed away. As Bournemouth settled, Foden’s spark dimmed and he was eventually replaced. Rating: 5

Erling Haaland, sporting a sharp new haircut, endured the kind of afternoon strikers dread. A sitter from a couple of yards somehow went begging in the first half. After the break he blazed one over, then scuffed another wide. The movement remained, but the finishing touch deserted him. The inevitable question follows: has chopping off the trademark blonde locks cost him his superpowers, or was this just one of those days? Rating: 5

Substitutes

Matheus Nunes (on 56, Lewis) slipped into midfield without leaving much of a fingerprint on the game. Safe, tidy, but nothing that shifted the tempo. Rating: 5

Rayan Cherki (on 62, O’Reilly) transformed everything. He arrived, demanded the ball, and instantly injected imagination into City’s attacks. Two assists later, he had turned the match on its head and surely strengthened his claim for a starting place at Crystal Palace on Friday. Rating: 8

Mateo Kovacic (on 62, Anderson) brought experience and calm, but the lingering thought remains: should he have started in midfield instead of Guehi? Rating: 5

Jack Grealish (on 82, Foden) had too little time to bend the game to his will. Rating: 5