Enzo Maresca wins first four games as Manchester City manager, keeping Guardiola’s machine humming

Replacing Pep Guardiola at Manchester City is the kind of job that looks great on a résumé and terrible on a stress test. Enzo Maresca, four games into the gig, is making it look suspiciously easy. The Italian has opened the 2026/27 Premier League season with four consecutive victories, guiding City past Bournemouth (2-1), Crystal Palace (4-1), Coventry City (1-0), and Manchester United (1-0). That last result came with City finishing on ten men after a red card, which is the managerial equivalent of acing an exam while someone hides your notes. A £17 million homecoming Maresca’s appointment on June 29, 2026, was less a leap of faith and more a reunion. This is technically his third stint at the Etihad. He coached City’s Elite Development Squad to the Premier League 2 title during the 2020/21 season, then served as Guardiola’s assistant during the historic 2022/23 campaign that ended with the Treble. To bring him back, City paid Chelsea approximately £17 million in compensation. Maresca had departed Stamford Bridge on January 1, 2026, midway through his tenure there. His contract runs three years, through the summer of 2029. Before returning to Manchester, Maresca built a tidy mana...