There were tears, incredibly loud cheers, an inexplicable miss, memories of the past and a glimpse of what Manchester City can expect in the future as Kevin De Bruyne said a final farewell to the Etihad Stadium after a decade at the club.
This was a night of celebration for a player who has written himself into the history books, not just at City but in the Premier League with his majestic feet and wizardry with a football.
After a long celebration of reminding everyone of his successes, bringing Pep Guardiola to tears, he left the pitch with his three children, his wife, a lifetime season ticket, a promise of a statue outside the ground and a real collector’s item: a glaring miss from four yards out.
“It was terrible, terrible [his miss],” De Bruyne said. “There are no excuses. My son is going to be very hard on me today. I think life and a career is a journey, with ups and some downs, and you have to get through every moment and enjoy it.”
This City team have been on their own journey this season, one not many would have expected. But with one game to go, they look poised to land Champions League football again with just one point needed in their final game, against Fulham on Sunday, to ensure they are back among Europe’s elite.
Luckily for De Bruyne his miss did not matter. The fans had come with their homemade banners, faces painted, shirts brandishing his name and flags to honour the man who has helped them win everything in the past ten years. He was lively from the first whistle, intent on going out having made a final lasting impression, whipping in dangerous balls and a lovely little turn to unleash Bernardo Silva early on, and he came close to adding to the 177 assists he had registered in sky blue.
As one City hero departed, the chance was provided for another to win over the affections of the Etihad faithful. Omar Marmoush would quickly guarantee himself cult status here if he scores many more goals like the one he popped up with last night.
He has proved to be an astute signing since his January arrival from Eintracht Frankfurt, already contributing six goals, but his seventh will not be forgotten in a hurry. The Egypt forward picked up the ball in the centre, drifted towards the edge of the area and unleashed a perfect, dipping right- footed strike into the top corner.
It was so good that each time it was replayed on the giant screens it brought gasps from the crowd. There were similar sounds shortly before the half-hour mark with that miss from De Bruyne. As the ball came across the six-yard box from Marmoush the stars seemed to have aligned to allow the Belgium midfielder his goodbye goal, but even with Kepa Arrizabalaga out of the question he still hit the bar.
Bournemouth reminded Guardiola’s side of their threat on the counter when Dean Huijsen released Marcus Tavernier down the left and City’s defence were cut wide open. Evanilson’s first-time volley came back off the post to deny Andoni Iraola’s team an equaliser.
Then came a moment of quality and persistence from Silva to double City’s lead. Ilkay Gundogan cut the ball back from the byline as Bournemouth struggled to clear and Silva finished past Arrizabalaga at the near post to give them valuable breathing space.
City looked like they might have hit that self-sabotage button they have had a habit of finding this season when Mateo Kovacic was shown a straight red in the 67th minute for pulling back Evanilson after he had pounced on a loose pass from Josko Gvardiol.
But less than ten minutes later Bournemouth lost their one-man advantage when Lewis Cook was also shown a straight red for a reckless challenge on Nico González.
The Spain midfielder, who had replaced De Bruyne, put the finishing touches on the win with an emphatic strike curled past Arrizabalaga that had De Bruyne on his feet in appreciation.
Rodri’s return from the injury that has kept him out for the majority of this season was greeted with an emphatic roar and it was a near-perfect night for Guardiola until a 96th-minute consolation for Bournemouth. Daniel Jebbison pounced on some poor defending and slotted the ball through Ederson’s legs.
But that was not going to be enough to dampen the party atmosphere. This was a night that belonged to De Bruyne for more reasons than one.
Man City (4-2-3-1): Ederson 7 — M Nunes 7, R Dias 7, M Akanji 7, J Gvardiol 6 — I Gundogan 8 (J Grealish 92min), M Kovacic 5 — B Silva 7 (J Doku 92), K De Bruyne 7, O Marmoush 8 (O Bobb 91) — E Haaland 6 (Rodri 82). Booked Ederson. Sent off Kovacic.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1): K Arrizabalaga 6 — J Araujo 5 (A Smith 69), I Zabarnyi 5, D Huijsen 6, M Kerkez 5 (J Soler 83) — T Adams, L Cook 5 — M Tavernier 6, J Kluivert 6 (D Brooks 46, 6), A Semenyo 6 — Evanilson 6 (D Jebbison 83) Booked Araujo, Huijsen, Tavernier. Sent off Cook.
Referee T Bramall.
