Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester City "couldn't cope with" Bournemouth's relentless play as his team, hampered by injuries, suffered a 2-1 defeat at the Vitality Stadium, ending their remarkable 32-match unbeaten streak in the Premier League.

The reigning champions were without key players, and with John Stones and Ruben Dias unavailable, they had to rely on a makeshift backline.

Bournemouth capitalised fully, pressing forward with intensity as Antoine Semenyo and Evanilson scored, delivering City’s first league defeat by the Cherries.

Josko Gvardiol, playing despite pre-match doubts over his fitness, headed in a late goal, setting up a tense finale. However, his effort fell short of extending City’s streak as they slipped behind Liverpool in the league standings.

Guardiola will be particularly concerned by how easily Bournemouth’s attackers, particularly the impressive Semenyo and Justin Kluivert, put Nathan Ake and Manuel Akanji under pressure, both of whom appeared less than fully fit.

Discussing the injury situation, Guardiola confirmed, “Ruben will be out until after the international break,” and praised the resilience of his players: “Manu and Nathan made a huge effort to play in a challenging match, as did Kyle [Walker], who went 18 or 19 days without training."

"Rico [Lewis] has played many minutes and was tired as well. This is the position we’re in; we try to manage the minutes, but we couldn’t cope today. Bournemouth had another level of pace, and we couldn’t keep up."

Without key figures like Kevin De Bruyne and Jeremy Doku, who were fit only to sit on the bench, the champions were often on the back foot.

Milos Kerkez played a pivotal role in the first goal, sprinting past Phil Foden on the left before cutting the ball back for Semenyo, who slipped past Gvardiol and slotted a shot past Ederson.

Ake, in particular, struggled to contain Bournemouth’s pacey attacks, and City’s defence was soon breached again.

Kerkez burst forward once more, delivering a cross into a space left open by Ake and Gvardiol, allowing Evanilson to tap in comfortably.

Guardiola reflected on the difficulties: “Sometimes, we have to accept that the opposition plays a certain way. Occasionally, you can manage it; other times, you struggle a bit. That happened today."

"The players put in an immense effort. Many of them weren’t in peak condition. Until the last moment, I didn’t know if Nathan could play. He told me he wanted to give it a go.”

The City manager reflected on the ups and downs of the season, saying: “Over the course of a season, these things happen more often than others. We have to manage. The squad will be back at full strength soon enough.”

Meanwhile, Bournemouth’s manager, Andoni Iraola, celebrated his side’s rise to eighth place after a resilient run against top sides such as City, Aston Villa, and Arsenal.

“We felt the pressure, and it was intense at the end,” he admitted. “I’m really pleased. Beating City is one thing; outplaying them is another.”

"We played with courage, pressing when we could and defending when necessary. It was nerve-wracking in the final ten minutes. You don’t enjoy that at all. The pressure was immense."