CHERRIES boss Eddie Howe praised an improved defensive display but admitted Manchester City’s ‘ugly’ winner would prove a frustration.

In the wake of Wednesday’s 5-1 defeat at Arsenal, Howe’s men were a much tighter defensive unit against title-chasing City at Vitality Stadium.

But substitute Riyad Mahrez’s 55th-minute strike ensured Cherries had nothing to show for their efforts.

Howe said: “We were pleased with how we defended. We had to answer a few questions from Wednesday.

“We pride ourselves on being organised and giving everything to every match, and not allowing standards to drop. But on Wednesday it was difficult.

“Today we did that. The back three performed really well, considering their ages and lack of experience.

“They produced some really good performances individually and collectively and that meant we were in the game.

“The only disappointment for me would be that their goal will probably be the ugliest goal they will score this season.

“We have to share the blame. It was one of the few times where we weren’t as aggressive in our defending as we would have wanted.

“It wasn’t a beautiful goal and you normally associate a different way of scoring with Man City. And that will frustrate us because in that moment, we were still very much in the match.”

Although they defended stoutly, Cherries had just 18 per cent of possession and did not manage a shot at goal.

Howe said: “It’s a difficult one because we usually go into games with a completely different mindset – very front foot, wanting the ball and wanting to take the game to the opposition.

“I felt if we had done that today, we would have left ourselves too open with their quality, so we did it a different way.

“I’m pleased with the effort, not necessarily everything about the performance but the effort was there and the determination to do everything to try to get the result was there, and that’s all we can ask.”

Pep Guardiola labelled his City side’s performance “incredible” and Howe concurred with that view.

Howe said: “Their technical level was so high. We are waiting for mistakes, for them to force passes and get frustrated and they didn’t.

“They kept doing the right thing, the simple thing and it meant our chances to attack were really limited.

“If you think back to how many technical mistakes they made, there were very few and it was that control which made it very difficult for us to get a foothold in the game.

“Even when we tried to change things for the last 20 minutes and apply pressure, it never really happened.”