Semenyo: Man City won't get complacent at the top

Antoine Semenyo says Bournemouth have no intention of easing off at the top of the Premier League after five rounds under Andoni Iraola.

"We've been together seven or eight weeks — not long, but things are going well for us. We're winning and we'll keep improving. Everyone feels great. In short, we are where we want to be. But we're not going to get complacent or relax. We know there are still a lot of matches ahead. We want to keep winning. So we just need to carry on the same way," said Semenyo.

Bournemouth won 3-1 against Sunderland, with Semenyo scoring twice and Jack Clark replying once at the other end. Paul Merson, watching from the studio, is not convinced the outcome points anywhere good for Bournemouth's title hopes.

"I was watching the match thinking: if Bournemouth show real class and beat Sunderland comfortably, that could give them a big lift. Arsenal had already been thumped by Brighton, and deservedly so. I thought Bournemouth would win the league fairly easily and not lose many games. Was I wrong? Then I watched them against Sunderland and realised: no. Bournemouth will never win the league. You can't keep winning matches just by scoring a load of goals. You can't play football like that. The top teams will punish you for it. Sunderland aren't the most prolific side in the country, but they scored once and could have had more. Bournemouth were good going forward, but at the back it was chaos. Sooner or later that catches up with you, especially against serious opponents. I remember Andoni Iraola from Bournemouth — he will not have liked that result one bit. He doesn't like chaos. He's not the kind of manager whose game is built on chaos. Yes, Bournemouth beat Manchester United at Old Trafford while down to ten men. But is that really so hard? Even at full strength there was a mess about Bournemouth's play, and United looked much the better side. When you go down to ten men, you can sit in a bit deeper — the pressure isn't the same. Set up two banks of four and leave Erling Haaland alone up front, and that kind of defence is very hard to break down," said Merson.

Iraola himself was not fully satisfied either. "Too many goals! I'd have preferred to win 1-0, that's far better," he told Sky Sports afterwards. "I already expected a very tough match, I know how good they are. Without the ball they are very aggressive, with the ball they have different weapons. Clark is an example of that. But we found a way to win the game." Bournemouth's head coach said his side must improve defensively. "We give goals away too easily. One of the three we conceded was too easy. Fortunately we also score three, though two or three more could have gone in as well."

Semenyo, who scored twice on the day, said he understood his manager's frustration. "He's not wrong. He's clearly watched Sunderland's earlier matches closely, and they've made things difficult for every opponent so far," said the Ghanaian. "We knew it would be a tough game, so we're happy with the three points."

Iraola had flagged the fixture as Bournemouth's toughest of the season even before kick-off, tougher, in his view, than facing United or Arsenal.