Cherki off the bench, Gvardiol in injury time: Maresca's Manchester City reign starts with a late, late show
Manchester City beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium, scoring twice late to overturn a deficit and hand new manager Enzo Maresca a winning start to his Premier League tenure.
Bournemouth led as the match entered its closing stages, and City's season could have opened with a blank. Instead, the turnaround arrived from the substitutes' bench — and from a centre-back wearing a striker's finishing boots.
Rayan Cherki, brought on as a substitute, provided two assists in the comeback (Yahoo Sports). Josko Gvardiol then scored a dramatic injury-time winner to complete it (The Sun). For Cherki, a summer signing known for his creative instincts, it was an instant reminder of why City brought him in. For Gvardiol, a defender by trade, it was the kind of goal that sends a crowd home buzzing.
Maresca, speaking after the match, said his side "completely deserved to win" (BBC Sport). Whether the visitors would agree is another matter — Bournemouth had come within minutes of taking a result from the champions' home. But City's pressure told. The goals came late, and they came from the players Maresca turned to when the game was slipping.
The match was City's first of the 2026-27 Premier League season, played at the Etihad on the opening weekend (Manchester City). For Maresca, appointed to the top job after Pep Guardiola's departure, it was always going to be scrutinised — every lineup choice, every substitution, every touchline reaction measured against the impossible standard of what came before.
Three points from a losing position is about as good a response as a new manager can offer to that kind of pressure. It will not settle every question. But it buys time, buys belief, and gives a squad a first taste of winning under the man now in charge. For the fans filing out of the Etihad, it also delivered the thing they keep coming back for: ninety minutes that could have gone either way, resolved by a goal at the death.
