Man City 2-1 Bournemouth: Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol rescue victory for Enzo Maresca in first Premier League outing

23.08.2026, 19:06 skysports.com

Manchester City survived a serious scare in Enzo Maresca's first Premier League game in charge, forced to come from behind to earn a dramatic, late 2-1 victory over Bournemouth.

The Italian endured a nightmarish first outing as boss after being humbled by Arsenal in the Community Shield, but was reprieved when it really mattered, guiding his side to an important, if uncomfortable, first league victory.

City had plenty of chances to make their afternoon more relaxed than it turned out but were wasteful and sloppy, with individuals playing out of position in an unbalanced system. None of Erling Haaland's five efforts could make the breakthrough, needing two defenders to rescue a result that looked beyond them for the majority.

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Marcus Tavernier scored a brilliant first-half opener for Bournemouth, who played with the same guile and gusto they displayed under Andoni Iraola. Marco Rose nearly masterminded the perfect awayday on his Premier League debut. But City rallied to mount a delayed revival.

25y 28d - Man City's starting XI to play Bournemouth was their youngest for an opening match of a Premier League season since 2008/09, under Mark Hughes.

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Marc Guehi and Josko Gvardiol both scored after the 84th minute to stage a remarkable turnaround, with VAR coming to the aid of the latter after the on-field officials initially ruled the stoppage-time winner offside. Substitute Rayan Cherki assisted both.

The hosts were far from convincing, but start with an all-important three points - the latest they have trailed in a Premier League home game that they went on to win since the final day of their title-winning 2011-12 campaign. A lucky omen, perhaps?

Bournemouth boss Marco Rose:

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"We are competitors. We came here to win the first time. We were in a good way to do it. We did many good things. At the end, how the game went, it was quite unlucky to lose that way.

"We had two situations. One corner kick and one situation where we were too passive. A game does not last 80 minutes, it's 90 minutes. We have to defend better. Here you need to find the right triggers, which we did really well for a long time.

"We had some transition situations and scored a really nice goal. It's about details. We can build on this, it's a good foundation. But we've got no points and we play for points. The plan was good we just struggled in the final minutes.

"The game is never over here, you have to defend for five or six minutes longer."