The opening weekend of the Premier League served up two radically different scenarios. Manchester City had to wait until the very last minutes to turn the game around against Bournemouth (2-1), while Aston Villa sank 4-0 at Brighton.
City, a victory on a knife-edge
For Enzo Maresca's big Premier League debut at the Etihad, Manchester City were seriously troubled by Bournemouth. Marcus Tavernier capitalised on a defensive error to open the scoring as early as the 26th minute.
Struggling for long periods, the Citizens picked up the pace after the break. Rayan Cherki, making his first league appearance, brought creativity to Manchester's play, while Jack Grealish also came on.
Relief arrived in the 85th minute: Marc Guéhi, who had glaringly missed a chance shortly before, finally equalised with a header from a Cherki corner.
City then snatched the win in stoppage time thanks to Joško Gvardiol, who scored the 2-1 after a VAR review.
Precious points for Manchester City, but a performance that still leaves plenty of questions unanswered for Enzo Maresca.
Brighton thrash Aston Villa
At the Amex, the story was very different. Brighton simply crushed Aston Villa (4-0), with a catastrophic first half for the visitors.
- 8th minute: own goal by Victor Lindelöf
- Maxim De Cuyper doubles the lead
- 30th and 31st minutes: Jack Hinshelwood scores twice within two minutes
Aston Villa's evening definitively turned with the sending-off of João Gomes in the 40th minute.
After a summer marked by numerous departures, Unai Emery now has a huge job ahead of him. Brighton, for their part, could not have dreamed of a better start to the season.
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