Manchester City really wanted Enzo Maresca as the new coach. Their conversations while Pep Guardiola was still on the bench was labelled as ‘tapping’ and the Citizens even had to pay compensation to get the Italian. But after only two games, the club’s executives cannot be satisfied. After a 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield, Manchester opened their Premier League season with a last minute 2-1 win against Bournemouth. What is actually the most worrying thing is that City’s display in both games has been worrying. They are absolutely not the same team without Pep Guardiola, and they are missing quality players who will step up when the situation is dire, like it was today. So far, they have only one – Rayan Cherki, but just as it was situation with Pep, the talented midfielder started on the bench. His two assists completely turned the game, as the Citizens were trailing 0-1 until the 84th minute. Manchester won, but this doesn’t look good so far.Ahead of the match, news appeared that City agreed a deal with Lille over super-talented Moroccan midfielder Ayyoub Bouaddi, but an 18-year old kid who never played in England will hardly be a proper answer, at least not now. What is worse, the Citizens are still selling players, as both Savinho and Marmoush are about to move to Tottenham, while the club allowed Nico Gonzales to move to Newcastle (if he wants). Nothing works so far in this team. Maresca opted for defender Marc Guehi as a defensive midfielder, while the club’s biggest acquisition, Elliot Anderson was not having a good day before he got injured and went out. Antoine Semenyo was moved to the left and had one chance throughout the 90 minutes. Pep’s legacy – dominance in possession remained, but didn’t mean anything at all. Bournemouth was so close to their first ever win against Manchester City away in the Premier League and they nearly did it with a new coach (Marco Rose), who unlike Maresca, has no experience in England. They were ‘killing’ City with hard pressing and counter attacks, but they simply missed too many good chances and failed to keep the 1-0 score. Maybe they would have managed to do it, as City looked like they wouldn’t score in a million years, but Cherki came in and proved that a talented, creative midfielder is always a game changer.🚨🏴 | GOAL: MARC GUEHI HAS EQUALIZED FOR MANCHESTER CITY!Manchester City 1-1 Bournemouth. pic.twitter.com/qz1EOqamC3— Santos Enyinnay (@SEnyinnay) August 23, 2026 First half was packed with chances, one goal and a lot of rough tackles which was allowed by the referee. City should have scored after only four minutes, but Lewis’ shot after Foden’s assist was saved by Bournemouth’s keeper Petrović. Then it was Haaland’s turn to miss a sitter in the 13th minute after a great O’Reilly cross. And the punishment came in the 26th minute, when Bournemouth scored from a first chance, after a quick counter attack. Evanilson's low driven cross found unmarked Tavernier on the other side and he had a simple tap-in for the lead. Instead of trying to equalize and create more chances, the Citizens looked lost in the final third, allowing Bournemouth to have two more chances. Tavernier was all alone on the brink of the penalty area but his shot went just inches from the bar in the 40th minute, while Donnarumma was called into action just a minute later and stopped Kluivert’s low drive from the left edge of the area.Maresca decided not to change anything at halftime and Guehi missed a sitter from four meters, as his header was poor and went off target. The next chance came only in 66th minute, when ‘unforgiven’ Semenyo finally had a shot, but Petrović was on the spot again. Bournemouth had another chance to seal the win, but Jebbison’s header was cleared by Donnarumma. And after all those Cherries’ misses, City found the was to equalize. After Cherki’s corner, Bournemouth’s defense made their first big mistake of the game, leaving Guehi totally alone and the England international didn’t miss this time. And then the French creative midfielder did it again in injury time with a pass toward Gvardiol. His game winner was dismissed as offside, but further VAR check confirmed the goal, giving Maresca his first win in the league as City manager.PREMIER LEAGUE – MATCHDAY 1FridayArsenal – Coventry 3-0 (2-0)/Havertz 15, Saka 23, Odegaard 49/SaturdayHull – Manchester United 2-0 (2-0)/Ajayi 17, Mendy 38/Everton – Crystal Palace 2-0 (1-0)/Dewsbury-Hall 42, Barry 53/Ipswich – Sunderland 2-1 (1-1)/Emersonn 24, Clarke 90 – Angulo 39/Nottingham Forest – Leeds 0-1 (0-0)/Stach 88/Brentford – Tottenham 3-0 (2-0)/Lewis-Potter 12, Janelt 33, Kayode 49/SundayBrighton – Aston Villa 4-0 (4-0)/Lindelof 8(og), De Cuyper 18, Hinshelwood 30, 31/Manchester City -Bournemouth 2-1 (0-1)/Guehi 84, Guardiol 90+1 – Tavernier 26/18.30: (3.90) Newcastle (3.70) Liverpool (2.00)Monday22.00: (3.70) Fulham (3.80) Chelsea (2.00)***odds are subject to change***
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