GOING against natural instinct can be a dangerous game. And yet it so nearly worked for Cherries against the might of Manchester City.

Setting up with a back five and four in midfield throttled the life out of City’s galaxy of attacking stars.

In the first half, the visitors’ best chances came not from intricately-worked passing moves but from set-pieces and largely hopeful crosses into the box.

But even then, Artur Boruc was not remotely extended.

It was all going pretty well until, in the closing moments of the first period, City’s Kevin De Bruyne pulled up with a hamstring injury.

Fortunately for Pep Guardiola, he had a £75million substitute to chuck on in the Belgian’s place. And Riyad Mahrez duly thumped home the goal which broke Cherries’ resistance 10 minutes after the restart.

The former Leicester City man had profited from some uncharacteristically hesitant defending from the hosts and a slice of fortune after the ball had fallen kindly to assist-maker David Silva off Charlie Daniels.

The game opened up only slightly after that. Boruc, who could probably have done better with the goal, made several fine saves.

But still, Cherries’ defending restored respectability after a hugely disappointing display against Arsenal and, in an odd way, outweighed the fact Eddie Howe’s side did not manage a shot at goal all game.

Yes, that statistic does not read well but let’s face it, it does not tell the whole story. More important is that Cherries were in the match from the first whistle to the last, which has rarely been the case against the Citizens in the Premier League.

And the truth is that against a team of City’s ludicrous talent, anything Cherries had got out of it would have been a bonus. Huddersfield away in six days’ time is much more important.

Cherries are on 34 points and it is conceivable that one more victory could be enough. At the very least, it would be a giant step towards survival.

In one fell swoop, Howe’s troops could brush aside a winless away run stretching back to October and put themselves on the brink of a fifth season in the top flight.

Easier said than done of course. But the opportunity is there.