Fernandinho absence important
Pep Guardiola praised Fernandinho after the opening Premier League game of the season but said that while he would be hugely important this season he cannot play every three days.
That the midfielder was absent for this Carabao Cup tie points towards his involvement against Leicester at the weekend. It wasn't clear at the beginning of the season how important Fernandinho would be - not least because the club signed his replacement more than a year ago - but the veteran remains integral to the manager's plans.
A notable absence for Gabriel Jesus too, who ran himself into the ground covering for Sergio Aguero at the back end of last season and will need to be managed in the next few months if his fellow striker cannot get back onto the pitch.
A tale of two centre-backs
Nicolas Otamendi was on the Manchester City bench at Wolves and Aymeric Laporte should be back for Leicester, so this game should have had the Argentine's name all over it.
That it did not hints that his time at the club could be coming to a close.
So too could Eric Garcia's but the fact that he started in spite of strong interest from Barcelona showed that Guardiola is happy to play the young defender for as long as he remains at the Etihad.
Foden takes over playmaker duties
With David Silva gone and Kevin De Bruyne on the bench, it was Foden who stepped up to be the architect of the side.
That lovely slipped ball through to Liam Delap in the 18th minute was actually the third chance he had created as he wreaked havoc in the Bournemouth third. After good work from Mahrez, Foden showed composure to score the second goal when it bounced into his path from the post.
He has had a headstart on Mahrez but should be ahead of both him and Ferran Torres when the selection is made for Sunday's Premier League game.
City's cup reign continues
Guardiola may gripe about the timing of the competition - especially with a squad so depleted - but he showed his will to win by chucking Benjamin Mendy, Kevin De Bruyne and Raheem Sterling on with the game level.
Next week's trip to Burnley will be even more difficult with this, but if they can get through that then they can forget about the competition until Christmas and by then they will be in the quarter-finals with only 180 minutes separating them from another trip to Wembley.
Steffen solid on debut
There was a momentary heart-in-mouth moment in the second half as Zack Steffen came flying out of his box on a rare Bournemouth counter. The US international quickly snuffed the danger out though showing excellent feet and awareness of play in what was a positive start to his new challenge at City.
With that standard, Guardiola should be able to relax about his goalkeeping department.
