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.
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"That’s exactly it," he said in reference to the quality of the goals and how City can punish you so quickly. "At times today, the levels and the quality was there for everyone to see. That’s what happens when you’re playing against a world-class team and world-class players really.
"We had our tiny little moments and then they punish you with individual brilliance and where they are as a team. I thought to a man my players gave everything they could give today, left everything out there, the difference was the qualities and levels were just too good."
Despite a 4-0 thrashing, Parker isn't too worried about the result. He added: "The game was the game today. I think we all understand and many managers have probably sat here after a game playing against Man City and the quality that they possess. The levels were different today. We’ve played against a world-class team that can execute in any given moment.
"I said before the game, we’re probably going to need to have 11 men with 10 out of 10 performances. We’re going to have to ride our luck. We’re going to have to take the very few chances that we’re going to get, along with every other team that comes here.
"They limit your chances and you’re going to have to be clinical. We didn’t manage to do that. And then obviously their quality shone through really."
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