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Bournemouth v Manchester City: Arsenal can win Premier League if visitors slip up as Guardiola heads for exit – live | Premier League
Key events
28 min Silva’s outswinging corner finds the head of Rodri, and Evanilson stoops to head clear just in front of the goalline. I think that would have gone in, though it’s hard to be sure as the header was moving quite slowly. Haaland then smashes a shot from a tight angle that hits somebody – either a defender or Petrovic – and goes behind for another corner.
27 min A cross from Doku deflects off Smith and flashes into the side netting. Petrovic had it covered.
26 min Nah, it’s never too early, not when there’s so much at stake.
25 min It’s too early for the as-it-stands table, right?
22 min There haven’t been many chances but this is a high-class game between two extremely good sides. I envy the supporters of whichever club Andoni Iraola joins this summer.
21 min “I definitely want City to win the league but I almost changed my mind when I saw that strip on the photo at the top of the blog,” writes Richard Hirst. “In what world do people get paid good money for coming up with kits like that?”
I’m not sure we’re the target market, Richard.
19 min Some classy hold-up play from Kroupi allows Bournemouth some respite after another extended period of City possession. He is so accomplished for a teenager.
15 min: What a miss by Evanilson!
A one touch, zig-zag move from Bournemouth ends with Tavernier fizzing a low cross that is somehow lifted over the bar from six yards by Evanilson.
I think the flag went up against Evanilson, though on the replay it looked really close. I guess we’ll never know, because he clodhopped it over the bar. The build-up was lovely.
14 min After a long spell of City possession, Khusanov whacks a long-range shot into orbit.
14 min “It would be impossibly churlish to deny Pep Guardiola every plaudit going; let’s put aside all the other stuff as he departs the stage,” writes Charles Antkai. “Of course he’s on everybody’s list of top managers of all time – citation probably not needed. As for this evening, in a spirit of generosity from an Arsenal fan, I hope he bows out in his penultimate game by thrashing Bournemouth, and I mean that in the spirit of Luciano Pavarotti in his immortal interview with Bobby Charlton.”
12 min: Semenyo has a goal disallowed He ran onto a through pass from Haaland and beat Petrovic with his left foot. VAR confirms the decision. There wasn’t a huge amount in it but Semenyo started his run a split-second too soon.
11 min The game is starting to settle into the expected pattern of City possession and Bournemouth transition.
8 min There’s an excellent pace to the game, with both teams showing plenty of intent in possession. More please!
5 min: Chance for City Semenyo gets to the byline and cuts the ball back sharply towards Doku on the edge of the area. He dummies a defender but shoots too close to Petrovic with his left foot.
3 min A fast start from Bournemouth, who are hounding City all over the pitch. City play through the press and Kovacic’s pass almost puts Haaland through on goal. It was James Hill, I think, who made a vital interception.
1 min City get the match under way on a chilly evening on the south coast.
A reminder of tonight’s teams
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1) Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Adams, Scott; Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier; Evanilson.
Subs: Cook, Brooks, Gannon-Doak, Diakite, Kluivert, Adli, Unal, Toth, Mandas.
Man City (poss 4-3-3) Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Bernardo, Rodri, Kovacic; Semenyo, Haaland, Doku.
Subs: Trafford, Dias, Reijnders, Stones, Marmoush, Cherki, Gvardiol, Savinho, Foden.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Andoni Iraola’s pre-match thoughts
It will be an emotional night, but probably after the game. The game is so difficult – there is so much to prepare for and our focus is all on that.
For us it’s massive. We want to play in Europe next season; we know we are close but we are not quite there. We will give our best and let’s see it’s enough.
[Mikel Arteta] will be supporting us today. I understand everything around the game, but I want to win because it’s massive for us.
Arteta and Iraola were childhood friends who were born three months and six miles apart.
Pep Guardiola’s pre-match interview
Sky Sports, who are covering the game in England, say it would not be fair to ask him about his future until after the game.
This is a tough, tough opponent. We have to win this game and then see what happens. This is the last effort. Two games, tonight and on Sunday.
How many games are Bournemouth unbeaten? [16] It speaks for itself.
[Have the overnight reports had any effect on City’s preparation for this game?] Zero.
There’s another big game at Stamford Bridge, where Spurs will effectively ensure survival if they get a point against Chelsea. That game kicks off at 8.15pm, and you can follow it with Simon Burnton.
Jamie Jackson
“What are your dreams, what are your dreams?” To comprehend what drove Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, his interaction with autograph hunters in January 2025 after an 8-0 FA Cup win over Salford City is instructive.
The group comprises all younger people apart from one man who tells him: “I used to be a chef.” Guardiola’s reply cuts to the quick and reads as a mantra heard surely by the 85 players he used in 10 Premier League seasons. “Continue to do it. Prepare better,” he says.
This ethos of improvement and perfection-seeking swept Guardiola’s City to the 2023 treble, the 2018 title with a record 100 points as part of a domestic treble, and to a historic four consecutive championships, the last of these a year after the winning Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup, when fatigue might have caused decline.
“The irony of Man City’s dentist’s appointment in Bournemouth today,” says Peter Oh, “is that it’s Arsenal who could come out of it with a crown.”
Breaking news: Southampton kicked out of Championship playoffs
Southampton have been expelled from the Championship playoff final and docked four points after being found guilty of spying on Middlesbrough.
An independent disciplinary commission handed down the punishment after the English Football League charged Southampton with a breach of its regulations.
It means Middlesbrough, who were beaten by Southampton in the semi-finals, will face Hull for a place in the Premier League. The final remains scheduled for Saturday at Wembley. Southampton have the right to appeal and the commission aims to resolve any appeal by the end of Wednesday.
Ben Fisher
“I just thought it was fake news,” says the Bournemouth defender James Hill, casting his mind back to the time Barcelona sent a scout to watch him play for Fleetwood. The game in question was a League One defeat by Burton and although the then 19-year-old was highly regarded, there were a few double-takes when the request to attend landed. “‘No, that can’t be right.’ And then afterwards someone told me they did come to the game: ‘Oh, incredible.’”
At that point Hill, who at the age of 16 became Fleetwood’s youngest player, was fresh from making his England Under-20 debut and a couple of months later an under-21 call-up followed, though a knee injury prevented him from joining Marc Guéhi, Morgan Gibbs-White, Cole Palmer and co. “I remember being on the phone to Lee Carsley,” he says. “‘I’m sorry, but I’m in the scanner at the moment, I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it judging from the pain I’m in.’”
Premier League clubs and others across Europe noted an athletic and powerful centre-back with dozens of games under his belt, and Bournemouth acted, paying Fleetwood £1.2m, eclipsing the £1m the club received for Jamie Vardy. Leicester laughed when Fleetwood insisted on an England clause in the deal for Vardy and Fleetwood inserted one when Hill joined Bournemouth, too. Hill is being monitored by England and it is impossible not to be impressed by the progress of the 24-year-old.
Pep Guardiola on Andoni Iraola’s Bournemouth
They don’t let you breathe. When a team is so intense, always when fatigue comes due to the amount of games, they can reduce this tempo a little bit, but with 10 days to prepare, I expect an intense team.
Team news
Tyler Adams replaces Ryan Christie in the Bournemouth midfield. That’s the only change from the team that won at Fulham ten days ago.
Pep Guardiola makes two changes to his FA Cup-winning side: Gianluigi Donnarumma and Mateo Kovacic replace James Trafford and Omar Marhoush. That probably means a switch to 4-3-3.
Bournemouth (4-2-3-1) Petrovic; Smith, Hill, Senesi, Truffert; Adams, Scott; Rayan, Kroupi, Tavernier; Evanilson.
Subs: Cook, Brooks, Gannon-Doak, Diakite, Kluivert, Adli, Unal, Toth, Mandas.
Man City (poss 4-3-3) Donnarumma; Nunes, Khusanov, Guehi, O’Reilly; Bernardo, Rodri, Kovacic; Semenyo, Haaland, Doku.
Subs: Trafford, Dias, Reijnders, Stones, Marmoush, Cherki, Gvardiol, Savinho, Foden.
Referee Anthony Taylor.
Antoine Semenyo on his return to Bournemouth
It’ll be emotional for sure. It’s good to be back and to see everyone, but we’ve got a job to do.
I know how tough it will be against Bournemouth but we’ve got a gameplan and hopefully it works.
“Riddle corner,” begins Peter Oh. “What is the most popular summer fruit among Arsenal fans? Cherries!”
There’s got to be a Müller Corner gag in there somewhere.
City line up Maresca as Guardiola replacement
Pep Guardiola has informed Manchester City’s players that he will leave the club after Sunday’s final Premier League game of the season against Aston Villa.
The manager felt obliged to update his squad after news of his departure broke on Monday night, taking him by surprise while he was preparing for Tuesday’s match at Bournemouth.
Guardiola had hoped to keep his decision to leave City private for longer, so as not to provide a distraction. City need to beat Bournemouth to take the title race to the last day after Arsenal moved five points clear by defeating Burnley.
Guardiola is leaving after 10 years with a season remaining on his contract and City have identified Enzo Maresca as his replacement. Chelsea are in line for sizeable compensation for Maresca from City after the Italian’s acrimonious departure from Chelsea on New Year’s Day.
Preamble
Well that escalated quickly. This time yesterday, Pep Guardiola’s departure from Manchester City was but a tentative rumour. Now it is common knowledge, even if has yet to be officially confirmed. That should happen tonight when Guardola speaks either before or after City’s vital game at Bourbnemouth.
There’s still a chance Guardiola could leave English football with another treble on his CV. But if City are to take the title race to the last day, and test Arsenal’s nerve to the full, they need to overcome a Bournemouth side who are unbeaten in 16 Premier League games.
Bournemouth are also saying goodbye to arguably their greatest ever manager. Tonight is Andoni Iraola’s final home game, a chance to say goodbye in style: if Bournemouth get a point, they will qualify for Europe for the first time in their history.
Kick-off 7.30pm BST.
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
A topless man can be seen driving erratically in Edinburgh before abandoning his car and attacking a black man and a delivery rider.
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