Manchester City staged a late comeback to defeat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium in the Premier League season opener on August 23, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. The victory marked the first for new City manager Enzo Maresca in his Premier League managerial debut [1, 3, 5].
Bournemouth took a surprise 1-0 lead in the 26th minute when Marcus Tavernier scored following a long ball from Adam Smith and a build-up involving Rayan and Evanilson [1, 3, 4]. The visitors held their lead through most of the match despite City dominating possession and creating chances.
City equalised in the 84th minute with a header from Marc Guéhi. Playing in an unusual holding midfield role as part of Maresca's tactical gamble, Guéhi nodded down a corner delivered by substitute Rayan Cherki [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. Guéhi said the position was a manager's idea they worked on all week and were glad it paid off [2]. Maresca said, "Sometimes you visualise things... So we tried it for a few days and I think he was quite good." [2]
The winning goal came in the 91st minute when Josko Gvardiol scored after a clever pass from Cherki. An initial offside flag was overturned by VAR, awarding the goal to City [1, 3, 4, 5]. The match featured 13 shots by Manchester City versus 5 by Bournemouth, with City controlling the final stages of the game [3, 4]. Erling Haaland struggled with missed chances and was replaced late by Jack Grealish [3, 4, 5].
Maresca described the game as a "work in progress" but praised the team spirit and fan support, noting a "Welcome Back Enzo" banner before kickoff. He said, "The spirit was fantastic. It's the perfect day, to be honest. We give the fans the joy of the three points. I have to say that was quite emotional." [3, 5, 6]
Bournemouth manager Marco Rose said his team came close to a first away win at City but conceded the late goals were "quite unlucky". "We're competitors, we came here to win for the first time... We did many good things. We have a lot of things to improve," he added [4, 5].
Manchester City had won six Premier League titles under Pep Guardiola before this season began [3]. Maresca and City will look to build on the win in their next Premier League match.
