The North West giants could approach the game with confidence having been on a 14-match unbeaten run which included an FA Cup final win over Chelsea at the weekend.
Bournemouth's formidable home record
However, Andoni Iraola and the Cherries were on a 16-match unbeaten run themselves, and with a chance of making the Champions League for next season if they were to win both of their remaining matches, they weren't going to be any pushovers down on the South Coast.
Furthermore, seven wins, nine draws and just two losses at home were a formidable record for the hosts.
They'd need to keep Erling Haaland quiet, of course, the Norwegian leading the Premier League goalscoring charts again this season with 26, including a brace that he scored in the reverse fixture at the Etihad Stadium back in November.
In Eli Junior Kroupi, Bournemouth had an attacking midfielder who also knows where the goal is, and his 12 - four of which had been opening goals - saw him as the major threat to the visitors.
Five changes from Guardiola
To give some context to just how deep a squad Guardiola has at City, he made five changes from the team that started the FA Cup final, whilst Iraola made just the one change: Tyler Adams coming in for the suspended Ryan Christie.
With City on the front foot as expected, Jeremy Doku quickly had the game's first shot on target, and the tricky winger would prove to be something of a thorn in the side of the home defence for much of the match.
His 10 touches in the Bournemouth box were more than half of what the hosts collectively had themselves, although that fourth-minute effort would be his only one on target in the 97 minutes of play.
Evanilson will be wondering how he missed the target from a few yards out with only Gianluigi Donnarumma to beat, and that attempt was all that the Cherries could muster in the opening half hour, as City's dominance in possession left them chasing shadows for long periods.
Superb opener from Junior Kroupi
Rodri, whose 112 touches were almost double the amount of any Bournemouth player, saw his header cleared off the line as City went for the jugular, with Haaland's follow-up being blocked.
It was the striker's first sniff of a chance, and his 125th shot this season, more than any other player in the English top-flight in 2025/26.
When they did get on the ball, the hosts were playing some good stuff, and the fact that Rodri, Matheus Nunes, Marc Guehi and Nico O'Reilly had to contest 52 one-on-ones between them over the course of the match says much about the pressure Bournemouth would eventually exert.
It was from one such passage of play that City were undone, as the ball found its way to Adrien Truffert, and his drilled centre picked out Kroupi to magnificently curl home the opener.
Semenyo not up to much on return to the south coast
A fourth goal in four home games for the youngster was vital for Arsenal, as City had only won once away from home in 25/26 when going behind, and Bournemouth hadn't lost since their fixture against the Gunners in January when going ahead.
Truffert's four first-half tackles were the most of any player on the pitch, in what was an all-action 45 minutes from the French left-back.
Aside from his cross to Doku for that early chance, returning striker, Antoine Semenyo was getting no change from his former colleagues in what was a largely disappointing performance from him.
His 76.2% pass completion rate was the second-worst on show from players of both sides, by way of example.
Lack of quality from Rayan Cherki
Only Bournemouth's Rayan had a worse showing, and it was he who had the hosts' first chance of the second half, only to see his left-footed effort blocked.
Guardiola had soon seen enough and sent on another Rayan (Cherki) to try and help restore parity in the match.
Unfortunately, he offered little other than one off-target shot, one unsuccessful dribble, and one duel that he lost.
Indeed, it was the Cherries' Rayan that almost ended the title race and this match as a contest when he hit the post just after the hour mark, the closest that Bournemouth would come to a second goal in the half hour or so that was left in the match, apart from David Brooks' 90th-minute shot from outside the box, which also rattled the woodwork.
Haaland's goal was too little, too late
To City's credit, they continued to attack and would get a reward of sorts when Haaland found the net in the 95th minute.
However, it was too little, too late from the visitors, and the way in which many of their players slumped to the ground at the final whistle was evidence enough of the hurt at missing out on the title again.
When Guardiola and his backroom staff are poring over the minutiae in the wake of this draw, they'll perhaps look at a lack of bite despite having 28 total dribbles in the game as one of the reasons why they weren't able to take the title race into the final day.
More possession, a better pass accuracy and more shots at goal will also mean absolutely nothing in what's thought to be Pep's final away game at the helm.
