Maresca’s Late Show: Manchester City’s Dramatic Win

Enzo Maresca stepped into Pep Guardiola’s shadow and walked out with a stoppage‑time winner and three points. It was chaotic, flawed, and nervy. It was also exactly what he needed.

Maresca’s late show

At the Etihad, Manchester City looked nothing like a side ready to chase down the Premier League champions. Last week’s limp 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield still hung in the air, and for long spells Bournemouth sensed vulnerability.

Marcus Tavernier’s first-half strike underlined it. Bournemouth broke, City’s back line hesitated, and Tavernier punished them to stun a restless home crowd. City’s passing was slow, their press disjointed, their defending uncertain. The post-Guardiola era opened not with a statement, but with a question mark.

Maresca’s response sat on the bench.

Rayan Cherki, introduced as City chased the game, changed everything. The French playmaker injected tempo and imagination that had been missing all afternoon. Suddenly, Bournemouth’s back four were turning, chasing, guessing.

With six minutes left, Cherki’s delivery finally cracked them. Marc Guehi rose to meet his cross and powered in the equaliser, dragging City level and breathing life into a game that had been slipping away.

The pressure didn’t ease. It intensified.

Deep into stoppage time, Cherki again found space and vision where there seemed to be none. His second assist picked out Josko Gvardiol, who stayed calm and stroked home the winner to flip the narrative on Maresca’s first league match in charge.

Guardiola’s City began in 2016 with a late home win over Sunderland. Maresca can only hope this similarly tight escape is the start of something just as decorated, even if the performance underlined how far his version of City still has to go.

“The impact was unbelievable, he is that kind of player,” Maresca said of Cherki. He admitted he had hesitated over starting the Frenchman, mindful that four of his XI had already returned late from holidays. One more, he felt, might tilt the balance too far. On this evidence, that dilemma will not last long.

Iraola’s Liverpool walk the tightrope

On Tyneside, another new era opened with fewer fireworks but just as much tension.

Andoni Iraola, installed as Liverpool’s new boss after Arne Slot’s sacking and amid sweeping change at Anfield, saw his side rescued by the last kick of the game in a 2-2 draw at Newcastle.

This is a very different Liverpool. Mohamed Salah has gone to Trabzonspor. A consortium fronted by Jeff Bezos has injected fresh money and scrutiny. The defensive issues that haunted Slot, though, remain stubbornly in place.

Newcastle went straight for that weakness. Anthony Elanga struck in the first half, capitalising on Liverpool’s loose structure and uncertainty at the back. Iraola’s side offered flashes going forward but left too many gaps behind the ball.

After the break, they stirred. Cody Gakpo’s equaliser hinted at a response, a sign that Liverpool still carried threat even in transition.

Then came another lapse.

Joe Willock, without a Premier League goal since 2024, found space and punished them again to restore Newcastle’s lead. For Matthais Jaissle, taking charge of Newcastle in his own debut, it looked like the perfect start.

Liverpool refused to fold. They pushed, probed, and stayed in the game long enough to force one last twist.

In stoppage time, Victor Munoz went down under a challenge from Lewis Hall. The referee pointed to the spot. Jaissle called it “a very soft penalty,” but the decision stood and the moment belonged to Dominik Szoboszlai.

The midfielder held his nerve and drilled in the equaliser with virtually the final kick, sparing Iraola from opening-day defeat and salvaging something from a disjointed display.

“It’s the result you want, scoring in the last minute. I value that the players never gave up,” Iraola said. He argued Liverpool had the better chances but admitted his side failed to finish attacks, leaving themselves open to counters. The refusal to accept defeat will encourage him; the familiar frailty without the ball will not.

Brighton punish stripped‑back Villa

If City and Liverpool staggered through their new beginnings, Brighton simply tore into theirs.

Aston Villa arrived at the Amex Stadium looking like a team stripped for parts. The Europa League winners have seen a stream of departures over the summer and turned up without a recognised striker amid ongoing speculation around Ollie Watkins.

Watkins and Emiliano Martinez were both absent, with reports linking them with exits to join Ezri Konsa, Youri Tielemans, Lucas Digne and Morgan Rogers on the way out. Unai Emery’s squad looked stretched; Brighton made sure it looked exposed.

Victor Lindelof’s own goal summed up Villa’s afternoon. A calamitous moment set Brighton on their way, and Maxim De Cuyper’s close-range finish quickly turned a difficult task into a looming rout.

Then Jack Hinshelwood took over.

Two goals in two minutes from the Brighton midfielder blew Villa apart, his quickfire double ripping through what little resistance remained. By the time Joao Gomes was sent off on his league debut just before half-time, Villa were not just beaten, they were overwhelmed.

Brighton’s 4-0 demolition felt like a statement. Villa’s collapse felt like a warning.

On a day of new eras, Maresca survived, Iraola escaped, and Emery was left staring at the cost of a squad dismantled. The season has only just started, but for some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs, the margin for error already looks brutally thin.