Enzo Maresca made his Premier League debut as Manchester City manager against Bournemouth in 2026–27 Matchweek 1.
Manchester City defeated Bournemouth 2–1 at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday 23 August 2026. Bournemouth scored first through Marcus Tavernier, but City overturned the deficit late through Marc Guéhi and Joško Gvardiol. The comeback gave Maresca a winning start.
Maresca replaced Pep Guardiola as Manchester City manager. His opening selection included several unusual positional choices: Marc Guéhi operated in central midfield, while Nico O’Reilly played as a number 10. Phil Foden started on the right wing in what was described as City’s youngest Matchweek 1 starting lineup in 17 years.
Bournemouth also had a new manager in Marco Rose, while Liverpool and Newcastle began the season under Andoni Iraola and Matthias Jaissle respectively. Those changes can make the managers easy to mix up, but Maresca was the coach in City’s dugout for the 2–1 win.