Manchester City vs Bournemouth Review
Joško Gvardiol scored a winning goal in the 91st minute as Enzo Maresca began his tenure as Manchester City manager with a Premier League victory. The Cityzens defeated Bournemouth 2-1, marking their 10th consecutive league win against the Cherries at the Etihad Stadium. After a disappointing 3-0 loss to Arsenal in the Community Shield, City started this match with determination, coming close early when Phil Foden’s clever flick set up Rico Lewis, who was denied a close-range shot by Petrović. City pressed again when Nico O’Reilly made a tireless run and crossed the ball, but Haaland was unable to convert the chance.
At the other end, Rayan forced a close-range save from Donnarumma, helping to maintain a positive spell that led to the opening goal. Rayan slipped the ball to Evanilson, whose first-time cross was neatly finished with a side-foot by Marcus Tavernier arriving at the far post. Maresca’s team controlled possession but, apart from a well-saved header from Haaland, posed little threat of an equalizer before halftime. Instead, Bournemouth looked more likely to score next, with Tavernier curling a shot just wide and Justin Kluivert’s low effort being saved by Donnarumma.
Bournemouth had only won two of their nine league openers (drawing three and losing four), but fortune seemed to favor them as they survived a major scare after the restart when Guéhi missed a free header from close range with the goal at his mercy. Maresca turned to his substitutes for inspiration, and there were promising moments as Haaland tested the Bournemouth goal repeatedly, though he consistently failed to connect cleanly. Fortunately for the home supporters, Guéhi redeemed himself six minutes from the end by scoring a powerful header into the net, having been left completely unmarked once again.
That set the stage for an exciting finish, and there was still time for Gvardiol to completely change the outcome during stoppage time, passing a VAR review by remaining onside and scoring the winning goal at the very end. This dramatic late goal also ended the Cherries’ unbeaten league streak of 18 games (8 wins, 10 draws). For City, although the late comeback doesn’t hide a lackluster performance, it at least provides Maresca with a winning start to his league campaign.
