There is no doubt who the focus falls upon - take a bow Kevin De Bruyne. The Belgian marked his return to action with a goal and an influential display and the media were impressed...
The Guardian’s Ed Aarons wrote: “A match against opponents who are already all but assured of their Premier League status for next season on a warm spring afternoon on the south coast may not have been the toughest of challenges yet the sparkling interchanges between their talented front three will offer great encouragement ahead of the trip to Paris on Wednesday.
“Deployed almost up alongside Sergio Agüero in a central attacking role, De Bruyne was into the action from the start as his clever back heel almost played in David Silva.
“From the resulting corner, Bournemouth should have cleared but it still took an expert piece of readjustment from Fernando to hook the ball into the net.”
The Daily Telegraph’s Tom Prentki praised the City boss for staying true to his pre-match pledge about taking one game at a time, reflecting: “Nobody could accuse Manuel Pellegrini of taking his eye off the Premier League in preparation for the Champions League and City had decided this match long before he withdrew De Bruyne early in the second half.
“It was his first outing since damaging ligaments against Everton in January as City attempted to consolidate their place in the top four.
“They were ahead in the seventh minute when Jesus Navas’ corner found its way to Fernando via Andrew Surman’s knee and the Brazilian cleverly hooked his volley beyond Artur Boruc.”
The Sun’s player ratings had striker Aguero as star man - a reward for a complete centre-forward performance that saw the Argentinian back on the goal trail.
Meanwhile, the Manchester Evening News’ Rob Pollard singled out De Bruyne for praise: “There were plenty of candidates for man of the match – but given he was returning from a two-month injury layoff, De Bruyne deserves huge praise.
“He controlled the game for long periods, with his vision and passing knitting together City’s attacking play. Oh how they’ve missed him in recent weeks during games where they have struggled to unlock defences.
“He was taken off just before the hour mark for a well-earned rest. PSG watch out.”
Finally there was more praise for the Belgian in the Daily Star’s write up.
“Fernando, De Bruyne and Sergio Aguero struck to put City 3-0 ahead and end the contest inside 20 minutes,” they wrote, “before Aleksandar Kolarov blasted a fourth at the death.
“The imperious De Bruyne’s willingness to drive beyond Aguero transformed City’s recently stilted play, creating vital extra space for both the lone striker and playmaker David Silva.
“The 24-year-old Belgium star offered the pivotal contribution in his first outing since suffering a ligament injury in late January.”
Finally, in other news, there is of course a snippet of transfer gossip, courtesy of the Mirror. According to Steve Bates, City are the latest club to join the race for Ukraine star Andriy Yarmolenko.
He claims: “Mersey rivals Liverpool and Everton have been on the trail of the £25million-rated Dynamo Kiev winger for more than a year. Chelsea and Arsenal have also been linked the 26-year-old.
“Yarmolenko, who scored the only goal of Ukraine’s friendly win over Wales last week, has even been advised by his national boss Mykhaylo Fomenko to head for the Premier League this summer.
“With Man City and Chelsea both set to spend heavily to upgrade their squads in the summer when new managers come on board, Yarmolenko is a top target.”
