Manchester City’s start to life under new manager Enzo Maresca has not gone to plan so far, with Bournemouth scoring first in today’s Premier League clash at the Etihad Stadium.

Marcus Tavernier finished well from close range, but Man City’s defence was absolutely all over the place as Rico Lewis took up a strange position where it’s unclear what he was trying to achieve.

Watch below as City make a worrying start to the post-Pep Guardiola era, with the team’s shape worryingly open and disorganised as Bournemouth just cut right through them with ease…

Marcus Tavernier fires Bournemouth ahead against Manchester City! ? pic.twitter.com/lSyNRfrTlc

— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) August 23, 2026

It’s worth noting, of course, that Bournemouth are also under a new manager today, with Marco Rose having come in to replace Andoni Iraola this summer.

So far, in the battle between Maresca and Rose, it’s the latter who has the surprise upper-hand.

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Bournemouth hurting Manchester City again following title blow

City must be fed up of playing Bournemouth, who drew with them back in May to confirm they could no longer win the Premier League title.

The Cherries hosted City at the Vitality Stadium in the penultimate game of last season, drawing 1-1 to confirm that Arsenal could no longer be caught at the top of the table.

Now Bournemouth are ahead at the Etihad Stadium, stunning the home crowd and undoubtedly causing plenty of anxiety about how this new season might pan out.

It was never going to be easy for City to recover from Guardiola’s departure, but this would have been seen as a winnable fixture for Maresca in his first Premier League game.

There’s plenty of time left, but for now it’s looking like a tough start to life at City for Maresca.