Maresca insists Man City ‘completely deserved’ Bournemouth win

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·23 August 2026

Maresca insists Man City ‘completely deserved’ Bournemouth win

Enzo Maresca has said Manchester City ‘completely deserved to win’ after beginning his reign with a 2-1 win over Bournemouth.

Manchester City scored two late goals to beat Bournemouth at the Etihad, having trailed at half-time to Marcus Tavernier’s opener for the visitors.

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Marc Guehi headed the Cityzens level on 84 minutes, before Josko Gvardiol snatched the points in stoppage time. The Croatian’s goal was subject to a VAR check, before the officials determined the defender had not been in an offside position.

Maresca was happy to see his side escape with three points, but insisted City deserved the result.

“Happy because we won. I think it’s a game we probably deserved to win earlier because we controlled the game, created chances. Before the goal we conceded, we had three or four clear chances and missed. Then we conceded and it all became more complicated. But overall, I think it’s a game we completely deserved to win.”

Goalscorer Guehi said City accept their will be scrutiny on their performances this season after the departure of Pep Guardiola, but said the squad are working to ensure standards and expectations remain high.

“We play for Man City, so there’s always going to be scrutiny whether we win, lose – there’s always going to be something. But we’re not daft, we understand there’s a lot of change at the football club; new manager, a lot of important players have left, new players going to come in.

“The most important is we keep our standards high, we know the expectation we have. We just come to work every day with a smile, make sure we try keep on improving, because that’s most important.”