Video: Manchester City 2 – 1 AFC Bournemouth [EFL Cup] Highlights 2020/21

Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said he was “devastated” after their battling defeat at Manchester City left them three points adrift of Premier League safety with two games remaining.

“It’s difficult at this stage to cling to positives because you need results and points over everything,” said Howe, who has been Cherries manager in each of the top four divisions.

After Bournemouth had seen a series of chances come and go, David Brooks’ late strike gave them the hope of an unlikely point at Etihad Stadium but they fell short of another comeback to boost their fading survival hopes.

David Silva had put City ahead with a superb free-kick after just six minutes, curling in from the right-hand corner of the box via the underside of the bar.

Pep Guardiola’s side had scored five times in each of their previous two outings but, in their first game since learning their European ban has been overturned, they did not seem in the mood to punish their opponents further.

Instead it was Bournemouth, fresh from their remarkable comeback to beat Leicester at the weekend, who threatened a repeat of that recovery here.

The visitors went close in the first half when Ederson had to push Junior Stanislas’s whipped free-kick on to his post, and was fortunate when the ball bounced back off his head and out of play.