Pep Guardiola’s rapier attack ripped Stoke apart in 90 minutes at the Etihad last week and it took the Cherries just 60 seconds to add to the Potters’ woes and push them on the slide into the bottom three.
Bournemouth had scored only once in their previous four away matches but Andrew Surman and Junior Stanislas had all but put this game to bed within the opening 17 minutes for only their second win since May.
And City had no one to blame but themselves. Nobody covered full-back Adam Smith’s run and he was able to feed Stanislas, unmarked in the box.
The midfielder stroked the ball back to Surman and he spotted the gap inside Jack Butland’s right hand post to give his team the lead.
Then Benik Afobe, only in the line-up because Josh King and Jermain Defoe were ruled out, bulldozed his way into the box.
Skipper Ryan Shawcross got his feet in a tangle, brought down the striker and Stanislas thumped home the spot-kick.
Only Jordon Ibe’s selfishness denied Howe the easiest halftime talk of the season when he opted to try to beat Butland with Afobe unmarked in front of an empty net.
It was another nightmare half for Hughes and his team were booed off by an increasingly angry home crowd, frustrated by a run of just one win in their last seven league games.
But at least, they showed far more spirit after the break. And when Mame Diouf claimed his third goal in as many starts there was a glimmer of hope.
Hughes ranted on the touchline when ref Lee Probert ignored appeals for a penalty after Jese went tumbling.
But the official was right, Smith having pushed the ball away before bringing down the Spaniard. It left both teams in the relegation zone – but no prizes for guessing who was the happier manager.
Hughes said: “We’ve got to get back on the horse. We fell off last week and it’s time to show our mettle.
“It’s no use feeling sorry for ourselves.
“We made it difficult. The two goals came very, very quickly. The first, I think, was their first shot and then to give them a penalty, we played into their hands. If we had got back on level terms I think we would have won the game.”
Howe said: “It was a tough game, the football we played in the first half was excellent but we knew at half-time the game would change. At 2-1 we looked very solid and didn’t really give them many chances.
“We haven’t had the results we wanted this season. We have not quite been at our best and that’s knocked confidence but hopefully with results like today we will return to our very best.”
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