Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City "could not handle" the intensity of Bournemouth after falling to a 2-1 defeat on the south coast.
Goals from Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson saw City fall to a 2-0 deficit for the first time since January 2023 (against Tottenham), before Josko Gvardiol headed in what proved to be a consolation late on.
The defending champions had been struggling with injuries in the build-up to the fixture, leading to a bench with an average age of 23 years old.
Guardiola blamed those injury troubles for his side's failure to get back in the game at the Vitality Stadium.
"We knew we couldn't match the intensity. We have talked about it. It was an open game. We had chances at the end but I congratulate Bournemouth for the victory," he told BBC Sport.
"The 50-50 balls in the middle, the duels, they play this type of game. They are so aggressive. They had six, seven days to prepare. They have physicality and speed, but you have to win these types of situations.
"We have few players with a lot of minutes and a lot of players with no minutes to the balance is a bit uncomfortable. We played good against Spurs but today we could not handle their intensity that they had and that's why we lost the game."
City still managed to accumulate a higher expected goals (xG) total, finishing on 1.8 compared to Bournemouth's 1.74.
That was boosted significantly when struggling Erling Haaland saw a header saved in stoppage time before crashing the rebound against the base of the post from close range.
"We had real good moments at the start of the second half and after that it was difficult to swallow as we were good. After we scored we had momentum and chances but couldn't score [again]," added Guardiola.
It was an entirely different story for the hosts, who registered a third home victory on the bounce, after defeating City's title rivals Arsenal in October.
"It was a great game. We did everything we could. We needed our very best performance and not the greatest game [from City] and that happened. It is very good to beat City and even better to beat them deservedly," enthused Andoni Iraola.
"It is very difficult. They are a great team. They have amazing subs and you have to suffer, stay compact. We suffered after a good game. We had the chance to finish it and not suffer too much at the end, but now we have to enjoy it.
“We know there are better teams than us but it is not easy to play here and we have to keep this level so everyone knows that when they come here it will not be an easy game."
The victory came in no small part due to the standout performances of Semenyo and Milos Kerkez
Semenyo was central to every Bournemouth attack and accumulated 0.56 xG and created three chances, the highest in his team.
Kerkez proved instrumental, too, delivering both assists off the left wing, first beating Kyle Walker to drive to the byline and cut back for Semenyo's opener, before providing a brilliant cross for Evanilson to prod in Bournemouth's second.
"They played very well the last few games and today they had the finishing product. Milos had two assists, we felt he deserved to get the numbers and I am happy as it was a complete performance," added Iraola.
"To beat a team like City you need everyone to play really well and they did."
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 RB Leipzig: Sahin picks up much-needed comeback win
Borussia Dortmund fought back to beat RB Leipzig 2-1 and claim a morale-boosting Bundesliga win for under-pressure boss Nuri Sahin.
Dortmund bounced back from a three-game losing streak in all competitions despite having nine players missing for Saturday's clash at Signal Iduna Park.
Leipzig took the lead when Benjamin Sesko lashed home from a tight angle in the 27th minute, though Dortmund had spurned several gilt-edged chances by that stage.
Dortmund responded within three minutes, though, with Maximilian Beier pouncing onto a loose ball to prod in.
The turnaround was completed when Serhou Guirassy headed in from close range in the 65th minute.
While Leipzig suffered their first league defeat of the campaign, Dortmund sit fifth.
Data Debrief: Sahin's home fortress
Dortmund's troubles this season, at least domestically, have come mainly on the road, but they have been excellent at home and this win continued that form.
Sahin has won each of his first five Bundesliga home games in charge of Dortmund, a feat previously only achieved by Marco Rose (seven wins), who of course was in the opposite dugout on Saturday.
Udinese 0-2 Juventus: Old Lady youngsters inspire return to winning ways
Juventus ensured they returned to winning ways in Serie A after Maduka Okoye's own-goal and Nicolo Savona's strike earned them a 2-0 win over Udinese.
After back-to-back draws against Inter and Parma along with their Champions League defeat to Stuttgart, Thiago Motta's side put on a dominant display away from home.
Juventus took the lead in the 19th minute when Khephren Thuram's effort struck the post, but fortuitously bounced off the back of Okoye and into his own net.
Savona then doubled the visitors' advantage eight minutes before half-time, with the young Italian quickest to react to Kenan Yildiz's shot that rebounded off the post.
Udinese did, however, improve after the break, and almost halved the deficit through Lorenzo Lucca, but his effort struck the crossbar in the 83rd minute.
Juventus remain unbeaten in their first 11 Serie A matches this term, the first time they have reached this stage of the season without defeat since the 2020-21 campaign.
Data Debrief: The Young Lady?
Juventus maintained their impressive record against Udinese away from home, earning their third away win in a row without conceding a goal.
But they were helped by Savona, who is becoming a rising star at Juventus. The 21-year-old is the youngest Italian in the division to have scored at least twice this term.
Juventus are also the only team in Serie A this season to have more than one player born from 2003 onwards with two or more goals scored in the competition, in Savona (two goals, born in 2003) and Yildiz (two goals, 2005).
Wolves 2-2 Crystal Palace: Guehi leveller piles pressure on O’Neil
Wolves’ wait for a first win of the Premier League season continued as they were pegged back in an entertaining 2-2 draw with Crystal Palace.
Trevoh Chalobah put Palace ahead on the hour mark, drilling into an unguarded net after Jorgen Strand Larsen inadvertently headed Will Hughes’ cross away from his own goalkeeper Jose Sa.
However, Chalobah’s missed interception allowed Matheus Cunha to tee up Larsen’s 67th-minute equaliser, then Wolves went ahead within five further minutes.
Joao Gomes stroked home following good work from substitute Goncalo Guedes but Wolves – and their under-fire head coach Gary O’Neil – were denied a vital win by Palace skipper Marc Guehi.
He was alive to convert at the back post after Daniel Munoz flicked on a corner, keeping Palace four points clear of Wolves in 17th, and the Eagles could have won it in stoppage time, only for Jean-Phillipe Mateta’s strike to be disallowed for Munoz’s foul on Sa.
O’Neil’s side remain 20th after Southampton recorded their first win of 2024-25 against Everton, ahead of a huge clash between the division’s bottom two clubs next week.
Data Debrief: Wolves’ wait goes on
After Southampton beat Everton at St Mary’s earlier on Saturday, Wolves remain one of just two winless sides in the Premier League, alongside Ipswich Town.
This is just the third time in their history that they have gone 10 games without a win at the start of a league campaign, after 1926-27 (10 matches) and 1983-84 (14).
O’Neil’s men are now winless in 13 league games dating back to last season, their second-longest run in the competition’s history, behind only a streak of 17 between February 2012 and August 2018.
At the end of a week in which Manchester United made Erik ten Hag the season’s first managerial casualty, O’Neil remains under severe pressure.
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