Manchester City beat Bournemouth 2-1 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday, with Josko Gvardiol scoring a 91st-minute winner to hand Enzo Maresca victory in his first Premier League match as City manager.
Bournemouth had led since the 26th minute through Marcus Tavernier, who scored on the break to expose City's defensive issues. Marc Guehi headed City level six minutes from time, converting a Rayan Cherki corner, before Cherki slid Gvardiol through for a stoppage-time winner that was confirmed by VAR after Maresca had blown kisses to the directors' box.
'It has been a perfect day,' Maresca said afterwards. 'It was quite emotional.'
Guehi's midfield gamble pays off
The most striking decision of Maresca's Premier League debut was starting and finishing Guehi, a centre back, as a sitting midfielder, a role he has performed only twice before in his professional career.
Guehi also missed a chance from an Elliot Anderson set piece before Anderson, a £116 million midfielder, went off injured.
'I always thought Marc could be a good midfielder,' Maresca said. 'It's not linked if we buy new players or not. You need to visualise it and then the last two days we tried him there in training. In the future when we need it, we now know he's going to be good in there.'
Guehi joked that he might be asked to play up front when he returns to face his former club, Crystal Palace, on Friday night.
Cherki inspires late comeback
Cherki started on the bench but came on with 27 minutes left and created more chances than any other player on the pitch, setting up both of City's goals.
Maresca said Cherki had not started because Erling Haaland, Anderson, Guehi and Nico O'Reilly were all effectively still in pre-season, and adding a fifth player in that situation would have tipped the balance too far.
'Rayan is quite a nice and clear boy, if he is not happy he wants to show it,' Maresca said. 'If he's next to me and he's not happy, you all realise that he is not happy because he is doing anything just to show that he is not happy. I know that he was not happy today but at the end I had to take a decision. His impact was unbelievable and he is that kind of player. What they have to do when they don't start is do what Rayan did today.'
Maresca eyes transfer reinforcements
City had agreed an £81.4 million move for Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi hours before kick-off, with Mateo Kovacic and Nico Gonzalez both left on the bench. Chelsea's Enzo Fernandez remains a primary target for City's midfield, though that negotiation is expected to be difficult.
Omar Marmoush, Gonzalez and Jack Grealish, all named among the substitutes, are each considered to have more than a good chance of leaving City before the transfer window closes.
Rico Lewis looked strong when City had the ball in midfield but struggled defensively, allowing Tavernier to score and almost letting Justin Kluivert do the same. Matheus Nunes improved City's play after coming on.
What Rose and Maresca said
Bournemouth manager Marco Rose said his side had the momentum in the second half but was left to rue passive defending that allowed Guehi a free header from six yards and let Cherki slip Gvardiol through for the winner.
'It's never done here. You know what you get. The quality of the team and this stadium. They know how to finish games,' Rose said.
The referee for the match was Jarred Gillett.
Line-ups
- Manchester City (4-2-3-1): Donnarumma; Lewis (Nunes 57), Khusanov, Dias, Gvardiol; Guehi, Anderson (Kovacic 63); Foden (Grealish 82), O'Reilly (Cherki 63), Semenyo; Haaland. Subs not used: Rulli, Ait-Nouri, Gonzalez, Marmoush, Reis.
- Bournemouth (4-3-3): Petrovic; Smith, Silva, Hill, Truffert; Scott, Cook (Adams 75), Kluivert (Toth 75); Rayan (Gannon-Doak 87), Evanilson (Jebbison 75), Tavernier. Subs not used: Dennis, Diakite, Sanchez, Brooks, Rodriguez.
