As Manchester City venture to the South Coast on Tuesday night seeking to keep the title race alive, a lot of the spotlight will be on Antoine Semenyo. He joined the Sky Blues from Bournemouth in January for £62.5 million and this has proved to be money well spent, making history. On Saturday, the Ghanian international scored the only goal as the Citizens beat Chelsea 1-0 in the FA Cup Final.
This takes his tally to ten goals for Man City, having also netted ten times for the Cherries before making the move. Thus, according to Opta, Semenyo is only the second player in Premier League history to reach double figures across all competitions for two different clubs in the same season. The other is Andy Cole, who was on target 15 times for Newcastle before joining Manchester United in January 1995, bagging 12 goals for the Red Devils thereafter, and 121 goals in total.
List of Antoine Semenyo's goals for Manchester City
- 10 January: Manchester City 10-1 Exeter City - 54'.
- 13 January: Newcastle United 0-2 Manchester City - 53'.
- 24 January: Manchester City 2-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers - 45+2'.
- 1 February: Tottenham Hotspur 2-2 Manchester City - 44'.
- 11 February: Manchester City 3-0 Fulham - 24'.
- 28 February: Leeds United 0-1 Manchester City - 45+2'.
- 4 March: Manchester City 2-2 Nottingham Forest - 31'.
- 4 April: Manchester City 4-0 Liverpool - 50'.
- 13 May: Manchester City 3-0 Crystal Palace - 32'.
- 16 May: Chelsea 0-1 Manchester City - 72'.
Semenyo currently averages a goal every 191 minutes in a Man City shirt, which is certainly not a bad ratio, having made 25 appearances for the club to date, of which 22 have been starts. He has been shortlisted for Premier League player of the season, deservedly so, even if he's unlikely to actually win the accolade.
So, can he fire the Sky Blues to a crucial victory against his former side on Tuesday? Should Man City fail to win at Dean Court, Arsenal will be crowned champions for the first time in 22 years, eliminating the possibility of final day drama.
During his final appearance for Bournemouth, in a fairytale ending, Semenyo scored a 97th minute winner against Tottenham; his long-range strike beating Guglielmo Vicario. This goal ended the Cherries' 11 match winless streak, but from there Andoni Iraola's team have never looked back. Starting with that win over Spurs, Bournemouth are currently unbeaten in 16 Premier League matches, the longest ongoing sequence in the division.
Victory for the Cherries would keep alive their hopes of Champions League qualification, while even a point would, at least, cement their spot in the Europa League, having never entered UEFA competition before. Well, Man City simply must become the first team since Arsenal on 3 January to beat Bournemouth, or their title aspirations will be over. So, is it destine that Semenyo will have a say?
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