Early crisis for Man City? Enzo Maresca provides Elliot Anderson injury update after dramatic Premier League comeback victory over Bournemouth
Anderson injury scare
Man City appeared set for another difficult afternoon after Marcus Tavernier gave Bournemouth the lead at the Etihad. The visitors capitalised as Maresca’s side struggled to adapt to the new manager’s tactics, but Marc Guehi eventually levelled the score before Josko Gvardiol struck in injury time to secure a dramatic 2-1 victory.
The comeback came with concern for Anderson, who went down after a collision with Alex Scott during the second half. The midfielder appeared to be feeling his hamstring before being replaced by Mateo Kovacic after the hour mark. Anderson had started every England game bar one at the World Cup and only joined City from Nottingham Forest in a record-breaking £116 million transfer.
Maresca offers reassuring update
Maresca moved quickly to ease injury concerns after the match. The City boss said regarding Anderson's condition: "I think it was cramp. We still have four or five players that are not 100 per cent and he is one of them."
He later added: "Today we had four or five players that arrived very late, 10 days ago, so for them it’s almost still pre-season. Erling [Haaland] is one, Elliot, Marc Guehi, Nico O’Reilly, so it’s complicated. But they’ve done a huge effort to help."
Anderson already impresses Maresca
Despite the fitness concern, Maresca was pleased with Anderson’s display before he was forced off. "He was very good. Elliot was very good on the ball, very good off the ball," he added. "I have a good feeling with Elliot that he’s going to be better and better. Again, for him this was like pre-season. He arrived 10 days ago but the feeling with him is that he’s going to be very good for this club in the future."
City face another quick test
City have little time to recover, with an away trip to Crystal Palace scheduled for Friday night. Anderson’s condition will be worth monitoring as Maresca manages a squad that still includes several players short of full match fitness.
The midfield is also undergoing significant changes following the departures of Rodri, Bernardo Silva and Tijjani Reijnders. City have reportedly agreed an £85.6m deal for Lille teenager Ayyoub Bouaddi, adding another layer to Maresca’s rebuilding process
