Manchester City 2-1 Bournemouth: Gvardiol injury time winner Gvardiol rescues City | OneFootball

Manchester City rescued a late win at the Etihad this afternoon, coming from behind to score an 85th-minute equaliser and a 92nd-minute winner to snatch all three points.

Marcus Tavernier opened the scoring for Bournemouth before the half-hour mark, when he found himself in plenty of space in the area before firing home.

Marc Guéhi headed home the leveller for City late in the day, making up for a guilt-edged miss earlier in the match. However, the real headlines were written by Josko Gvardiol, who broke free in the box in injury time and slotted into the bottom corner to win the match for City.

As it happened

Enzo Maresca made two changes to his starting XI this afternoon, following his side’s 3-0 defeat to Arsenal in the Community Shield last weekend. Those changes saw Rico Lewis and Guéhi replace Jérémy Doku and Mateo Kovacic, whilst a new-look Erling Haaland made a landmark 200th appearance for The Citizens.

Meanwhile, Marco Rose’s first Bournemouth side featured plenty of familiar faces, with António Silva the only Summer arrival in from the off.

City got off to a flying start when some brilliant link-up play between Haaland and Phil Foden led to Lewis getting a shot away, which was well saved by Djordje Petrovic. Haaland looked almost certain to score in the 12th minute, but he couldn’t quite get on the end of Nico O’Reilly’s cross, who had come close to an opener himself minutes prior when he headed over the bar.

The hosts had penalty appeals waved away halfway through the first half, after Semenyo went down under a challenge from Rayan. The Cherries’ first chance of the game came moments later, and Tavernier made sure it counted for something by firing the ball home from inside the area after finding himself in plenty of space.

Evanilson was lucky to escape a booking following the goal when he recklessly flew into the back of Elliot Anderson. Haaland came close again before half-time, forcing an impressive save from Petrovic to keep the Norwegian’s header out. A lightning counterattack followed from Bournemouth, which almost saw Tavernier add a second from range; however, he fired narrowly wide.

Justin Kluivert also came close to extending the visitors’ lead when he forced Gianluigi Donnarumma into a save from close range, bringing a frustrating half to an end for City.

Guéhi passed up a golden opportunity to level the score early in the second half, when Anderson’s corner found him at the back post, but the England international glanced his header wide from inside the six-yard box.

Maresca was forced into a change on the hour mark when Anderson went down with an injury; he was replaced by Kovacic. Rayan Cherki was also introduced, replacing O’Reilly in the number 10 role. Cherki and Antoine Semenyo linked up in the Bournemouth box shortly after, with the latter getting a powerful strike away, but Petrovic was equal to it.

Haaland turned in the area and looked to strike, but he was crowded by Bournemouth defenders before firing high and wide. He came close again moments later, this time forcing a save from Petrovic with a half-volley which he didn’t quite time right.

A triple change followed for Rose’s side, with Tyler Adams, Daniel Jebbison and Alex Tóth replacing Evanilson, Lewis Cook and Kluivert. Foden was shown the first yellow card of the afternoon in the 77th minute, after clipping Jebbison in a wide area. The resultant set-piece saw the Bournemouth forward’s header saved by Donnarumma.

Foden was withdrawn shortly after and replaced by Jack Grealish for his first Premier League appearance in a Manchester City shirt since May 2025, which came against Bournemouth. Haaland looked to break through on goal after the change, but failed to bring the ball under his spell.

A corner shortly after was what it took to yield the equaliser for City, when the Bournemouth defence switched off, and Guéhi made no mistakes this time, firing a bullet header past Petrovic to level the score with five minutes of regular time to play. Silva was booked for dissent following the goal.

As Bournemouth looked to respond, Rose turned to his bench once again and introduced Ben Gannon-Doak to replace Rayan for the final minutes of the match. The headlines were written by Josko Gvardiol in the 92nd minute, who broke free in the box and slotted the ball into the bottom corner to win the match for City. He was initially ruled offside; however, the goal stood following a VAR check.