Enzo Maresca admits his Manchester City team are still a "work in progress" after they left it late to beat Bournemouth in their opening Premier League game of the season.

It looked as though Maresca's first league game since succeeding Pep Guardiola might end in defeat when Marcus Tavernier gave Bournemouth a 26th-minute lead at the Etihad Stadium.

The Cherries – who were unbeaten in 18 Premier League games since losing to Arsenal on January 3 – remained in front until the 84th minute, when Marc Guehi powered in a header from Rayan Cherki's corner.

And Cherki – who was sent on alongside Matheus Nunes, Mateo Kovacic and Jack Grealish as City grew desperate in attack – then teed up a stoppage-time winner for Josko Gvardiol as City triumphed 2-1.

City have now won their opening game in 15 of the last 16 Premier League seasons, only failing to do so when they lost to Tottenham in 2021-22. 

But just seven days on from a chastening 3-0 defeat to Premier League champions Arsenal in the Community Shield, Maresca knows there is still plenty of work to do.

"I feel in the same position as after Arsenal," Maresca told City's website. "I know most of the you judge the results, but I don't see a big difference from one week ago to today.

"Unfortunately, this is a work in progress, and that's why I'm looking for new solutions like Guehi as a midfielder – something different.

"We need solutions, we need to prepare the team for a season. When you win games you need help from the environment, from the fans, from everyone. We are happier today than a week ago."

In a post-match interview with BBC Match of the Day, meanwhile, Maresca went into further detail about his decision to field Guehi in central midfield alongside Elliot Anderson.

Marc Guéhi: Central Midfield Edition pic.twitter.com/ViBZqOroB2

— Opta Analyst (@OptaAnalyst) August 23, 2026

Guehi completed 56 of his 59 attempted passes (94.9%), with Abdukodir Khusanov (96.7%) the only City starter to register a higher passing accuracy, while the former Crystal Palace man also led all players on the pitch for passes into the final third (25).

"I'm happy that we won the game, and I have the feeling that we deserved to win it earlier, because we controlled the game, we created chances," Maresca said.

"We had four or five players who arrived late, only eight days ago. So for them, it's still pre-season – Erling [Haaland] is one of them, Elliot too. 

"So, it's complicated for them, but they made a huge effort to help the team – also Marc who had never played in midfield, today he was very good.

"I know Marc from Crystal Palace, and I always thought he could play in midfield. We tried with him as a central defender stepping into [midfield], then the last few days, we tried with him simply playing as a midfielder, and he was quite good."

Speaking to Sky Sports about his change of position, Guehi himself said: "It was just an idea the manager had. We worked on it in the week. 

"We're trying different things, trying different solutions for the team. I'm glad today that it paid off in the end.

"I enjoyed it simply because I got so much help from so many people. When you have that, you feel comfortable to just go out and play and do what you can for the team."

Asked where he will play next time out, Guehi quipped: "Who knows? Maybe up front. We'll see!"

But Maresca may have a new midfield option by the time City visit Palace on Friday, with a €100m (£85.6m) deal for Lille's Ayyoub Bouaddi reportedly close to completion.

When asked about Bouaddi by BBC Match of the Day, Maresca said: "I will speak with the club now, after the press conference. We'll see. There is one more week to go, but for sure, something is going to happen."