Bournemouth vs. Manchester City: Score, Reaction from 2017 Premier League Match

Manchester City battled to a 2-0 win over Bournemouth during Monday's 2016-17 Premier League action.

Raheem Sterling opened the scoring during an entertaining first half that saw more rash challenges than chances. Both Gabriel Jesus and Jack Wilshere picked up knocks before the official whistled to end the half.

Substitute Sergio Aguero seemed to double the lead after the break, but the goal was attributed to Tyrone Mings instead. The own goal effectively ended the match as a contest.  

As shared by City's official Twitter account, Aguero started on the bench, with Jesus taking a spot in the starting XI:

With two clubs built on high-octane attack facing off, the action was expected to be fast and furious. From the opening whistle, both sides tried to maintain possession and move the ball quickly, and the opening stages were highly entertaining.

Sterling nearly picked out Jesus after a smart ball from Kevin De Bruyne, before Yaya Toure ran into the first booking of the contest for a needless foul on Harry Arter.

Just a few minutes later, Jesus took a knock after a duel for a loose ball and went down in obvious pain. The youngster tried to carry on for a few more minutes, but Aguero replaced him just before the quarter-hour mark.

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Jack Wilshere went close to opening the score, drawing a superb save from Willy Caballero, and the home fans were furious when the Cherries were not awarded a penalty after some light―and accidental―contact between the ball and Toure's arm.

Ryan Fraser joined the Ivorian in the book for a dreadful foul on De Bruyne before Sterling opened the scoring, taking advantage of a poor clearance from Steve Cook. Goal's Sam Lee was almost disappointed the Bournemouth fans weren't harder on the former Liverpool man:

On the other side of the pitch, Joshua King thought he had tied things up just a minute later, but the goal was denied for a foul in the buildup.

As shared by Bleacher Report UK, the pace wasn't dropping:

Added to the high pace was a fierceness few perhaps expected. The first half was a rash and at times violent affair, with emotions running high and plenty of nasty tackles. Chances became few after the opening goal, but things remained very entertaining.

The many cynical tackles had an unfortunate side-effect, however. A total of five minutes was added to the first half, and in that spell, Wilshere collided with David Silva and suffered yet another ankle injury.

As shared by Bleacher Report UK, it's the latest in along line of setbacks for the England international:

The second half started the way the first ended, with plenty of flying tackles. Toure was lucky not to run into a second yellow early for yet another foul on Benik Afobe, who took much of the damage after the restart.

Jordon Ibe flashed his talent on several occasions and delivered an inviting ball into the box that none of his team-mates could tuck away, and Aguero fired a shot from distance that took a deflection and rolled out of play.

Sterling kicked out at King for no apparent reason and became the latest player to be booked, shortly before team-mate Leroy Sane joined him. 

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Caballero made another good save to deny Arter, who was booked less than a minute after the chance. Aguero was the victim of a vicious tackle, but he took revenge shortly after, scoring the second goal City so desperately needed.

Sterling did the hard work and the final touch came off Mings, who was credited with the own goal. However, it did not stop Aguero from celebrating, as BBC's Match of the Day noted:

Bournemouth tried to rally, but with the two-goal lead, City patiently sat back. The Cherries didn't let up, but the visitors calmly saw out the final stages and even came close to adding a third goal, as Sane hit the crossbar. 

Silva also had a few late looks, and City's smart passing killed any momentum the Cherries had left. 

After the match, Sane took to Twitter to celebrate the win:

City's next outing will be against Huddersfield in the FA Cup. Bournemouth will visit West Bromwich Albion in the Premier League.