Manchester City manager, Pep Guardiola, has admitted his side could not match Bournemouth’s intensity during their 2-1 defeat on Saturday.
The Premier League champions saw their 32-game unbeaten run in 2024 end at the Vitality Stadium.
Antoine Semenyo opened the scoring for the hosts before Evanilson prodded in the second goal.
Although Josko Gvardiol pulled one back for City, it was merely a consolation.
Speaking to BBC after the game, Guardiola said: “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.
“The 50-50 balls in the middle, the duels, they play this type of game. They are so aggressive. They had six to seven days to prepare. They have physicality and speed, but you have to win these types of situations. And they had chances.
“Ederson made a good save. 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].