Man City strike twice late on to beat Bournemouth
By BBC, August 23, 2026Manchester City scored two late goals to earn Enzo Maresca a win in his first Premier League game in charge—and deny Marco Rose the perfect start as Bournemouth boss.
The Cherries took the first-half lead through Marcus Tavernier, who was left in loads of space to slam in after Evanilson’s incisive low ball across the area.
Erling Haaland, usually at his most prolific in August, missed a host of chances for City as they looked set for a frustrating afternoon, on the day he revealed a new hairstyle just before the team’s Premier League kick-off
But Marc Guehi, playing in defensive midfield for only the third time in his career, nodded in Rayan Cherki’s corner with six minutes to go.
And it got even worse for Bournemouth when Josko Gvardiol guided a shot into the bottom corner in injury time.
The goal was initially disallowed for offside, but given after a video assistant referee review.
It was Bournemouth’s first defeat in any competition since January, ending their club-record 18-game unbeaten run.
City showed improvement from the side who were bashed 3-0 by Arsenal in last Sunday’s Community Shield—but for most of this game it looked as if Maresca was going to start with consecutive defeats.
Replacing a legend is always difficult—as David Moyes experienced when Sir Alex Ferguson left neighbours Manchester United in 2013 – and the late comeback will come as a major relief in their first Premier League game without Pep Guardiola in a decade.
City did not exactly promote from within when hiring Maresca, who quit as Chelsea manager at the start of 2026, but the Italian was Guardiola’s City assistant in 2022-23 and would perhaps be seen as something of a continuity candidate.
It was a very shaky start though and they went 1-0 down at home on the opening day of a Premier League campaign for the first time since 1995-96 – the season they ended up being relegated.
Maresca’s selection
Maresca’s team selection confused many, with six players who have played most of their City games in defence starting on Sunday – including Guehi in midfield.
But all’s well that ends well and Guehi looked as if he had rescued a point before defender Gvardiol added two more.
Things would have been more comfortable if Haaland had brought his shooting boots.
The Norwegian has scored 22 goals in 14 Premier League games in the month of August – but failed to take any of his five chances.