Iraola: Man City goals a product of risky Bournemouth style
Bournemouth saw their unbeaten Premier League run ended by Erling Haaland and Manchester City on Sunday, losing 3-1 at the Etihad Stadium.
Andoni Iraola believes Manchester City's first two goals in their 3-1 win over Bournemouth were a product of the Cherries' high-risk approach, but he was still proud of his team's display.
Bournemouth saw their eight-match unbeaten run in the Premier League (five wins, three draws) come to a halt on Sunday, as Erling Haaland's brace guided City to a 3-1 win.
Haaland netted twice inside the opening 33 minutes, with Bournemouth briefly getting back on terms via Tyler Adams between those efforts, then Nico O'Reilly made the points safe for Pep Guardiola's team on the hour mark.
Bournemouth have saved their best form for the Vitality Stadium lately. They have only won two of their last 11 away games in the Premier League (five draws, four defeats), conceding two or more goals in eight of those matches.
Haaland went clean through for both of his goals, latching onto a Rayan Cherki header for the opener then taking in a defence-splitting pass from the same player for his second.
But Iraola says Bournemouth's proactive, high-pressing approach out of possession will always ensure chances for speedy forwards.
"To get something from these kinds of games, you need something special," Iraola told BBC Match of the Day.
"In the first half, we pressed like we always do. They got around the back for the first two goals very well.
"You have to accept sometimes that when you play like this, they can punish us. I am pleased with the performance overall.
"We started quite well. We fought and got to 1-1 but then it was a lovely moment from them. Probably in the second half we controlled more of the game. We were playing well and had two chances."
Haaland is just the third player to score at least two goals in four consecutive Premier League home games in the competition's history.
Only Liverpool greats Robbie Fowler (four across 1995-96) and Luis Suarez (five in a row in 2013) had previously achieved that feat.
Iraola said of the Norwegian: "Haaland is that good. He is in great form and with big spaces, it is very difficult to defend.
"We didn't want to change the way we were playing. He punished us two times. The timing was just not there from our centre-backs."
Bournemouth return to action next Sunday, away at Aston Villa, then play host to West Ham after the international break.
