Bournemouth had not lost in 18 league games, and Gvardiol beat them in stoppage time
Manchester City were losing at home with six minutes left of Enzo Maresca’s first league match in charge. Two Rayan Cherki assists turned it into a 2-1 win.
Aug 23, 2026
For 84 minutes at the Etihad on Sunday, Enzo Maresca’s first league match as Manchester City manager was going to be a defeat. Bournemouth led through Marcus Tavernier, City had spent an hour and a half not scoring, and the away end could see a result coming. Then the game turned over twice in eight minutes.
Tavernier put Bournemouth ahead in the 26th minute
Bournemouth did what they have been doing to bigger teams for two years now. They defended deep, kept the ball when they got it, and took the one chance that mattered. Evanilson sprung the counter, Tavernier finished it with his left foot in the 26th minute, and City went in at half-time a goal down at home on the opening weekend.
The second half was mostly City camped in Bournemouth’s half and finding nothing. Rayan Cherki changed that, and he did it from the bench.
Two goals, both made by Cherki
Marc Guehi headed in a Cherki corner in the 84th minute for the equaliser. Six minutes later, in the second minute of stoppage time, Cherki found Gvardiol, who put City in front for the first time all afternoon.
The flag went up against Gvardiol as the ball went in. The replays gave it back to him: James Hill’s trailing leg had played him onside, and the goal stood. Cherki finished the afternoon with two assists, having come off the bench as a second-half substitute.
Bournemouth’s run is over
The number that stings for Bournemouth is 18. That is how many Premier League games they had gone without defeat before this one, a run built across the back half of last season and carried into this one, and it ended to a goal that needed a video check to survive.
Andoni Iraola’s side have been the most awkward opponent in the division for a while, and there was nothing lucky about the way they played here. They lost because City eventually had more of everything, and because a substitute produced two moments in the last ten minutes.
Maresca gets the start he needed
Maresca has taken over a City side that spent the summer rebuilding around Elliot Anderson, who arrived from Nottingham Forest for a British record fee. He is also following the most successful manager in the club’s history, which means every result in August gets read as evidence of something.
A 2-1 win after being outplayed for an hour is not evidence of much. It is, though, better than the alternative, and it is a considerable improvement on the last time this squad played a competitive match: Arsenal beat them 3-0 in the Community Shield on 16 August, and were a goal up inside half a minute.
What the afternoon actually showed is that this City team can be held for 80 minutes at home by a well-organised side, and that Cherki is the player who solves it. Both of those things will matter more in October than they do now.