Scott Parker admitted the quality levels between Manchester City and Bournemouth were just too high in Saturday's 4-0 defeat, pointing towards the magic in the Blues' opening two goals as prime examples.
City returned to the Etihad to face the newly-promoted Cherries and picked up where they left off in May, with Ilkay Gundogan scoring. With one of his two passes in the game, Erling Haaland played an excellent one-two to send the German through on goal.
Kevin De Bruyne then added the second with a stunning outside-of-the-boot strike from the edge of the box. Phil Foden and an own-goal from Jefferson Lerma rounded off the scoring. Parker pointed towards the brilliance of the first two strikes as he highlighted the difference between the two sides.
