Wolves 2 Manchester City 1 - Report

Wolves were up for it from the first whistle and although they allowed City to have possession, they looked dangerous on the counter-attack.

That proved fruitful when Pedro Neto – who is in scintillating form – went on a solo run to force Ruben Dias to turn into his own net and give Wolves the lead.

Julian Alvarez’s superb free-kick levelled the scoreline in the second half, but just eight minutes later Wolves regained their lead when Hwang Hee-chan scored his fifth goal in just eight games.

Wolves hung on during six minutes of added time to take all three points, in a huge step forward for the team.

Analysis

Gary O’Neil made one change from the side that drew with Luton in the last Premier League game, as he switched to a 5-2-3 formation.

With Jean-Ricner Bellegarde suspended, Toti Gomes came in to make up the three centre-backs.

Pep Guardiola made two changes from his City side’s last league outing, as he stuck with the 4-2-3-1 formation.

Nathan Ake and Mateo Kovacic came in as Josko Gvardiol dropped to the bench and Rodri was suspended.

Former Wolves midfielder Matheus Nunes started for City, after his controversial exit in late August.

As expected, once the game got under way the Wolves fans were singing chants at Nunes and loudly booing every touch of the ball he had.

City dominated possession in the opening stages as Wolves sat back, and Nunes was heavily involved as the visitors should have taken the lead.

The midfielder was played in and could have shot, but instead looked for Erling Haaland for a tap in, but Craig Dawson made a magnificent interception.

Wolves were looking for counter attacking opportunities, and incredibly took the lead after 13 minutes due to a world class solo run from Neto. The winger charged down the right, shrugged off a challenge from Phil Foden and darted beyond Ake, before seeing his low cross turned into his own net by Dias.

Although City regained control of the game, Wolves were doing well to sit in and defend comfortably.

A big error from Rayan Ait-Nouri had Wolves backtracking, however, when he gave the ball away to Foden on the edge of his own box. Toti did really well to recover, and Jose Sa also helped close down the City forward.

The hosts came close again when a counter-attack set up Hwang, but he saw his shot blocked by Manuel Akanji.

Wolves managed to get through to half-time limiting City to few clear-cut chances, after a spirited display.

As the second half began, City took Nunes off and replaced him with Oscar Bobb.

Wolves made a solid start to the second half, too, and were defending well. Neto continued to look dangerous down the right.

The hosts were fuming when Matheus Cunha was denied a free-kick on the edge of the box, and City went down the other end and won their own free-kick after Joao Gomes fouled Bobb. Directly from that free-kick, Alvarez equalised when he squeezed it into the top corner, despite Sa getting a hand to it.

The home fans, livid with the refereeing, directed their anger at referee Craig Pawson and began a chant accusing the Premier League of being ‘corrupt’.

But those jeers quickly turned to cheers when Wolves regained their lead after 66 minutes. Nelson Semedo did well down the right and crossed low, before the ball was poked towards Hwang. His first shot was blocked, the ball then fell to Cunha who set up Hwang for a tap in to send Molineux wild.

Although City were dominating possession as they looked for a way back into the game, Wolves were not under immense pressure and were defending well as the game entered six minutes of added time.

Molineux was rocking and willing the team over the line, and they made it to take all three points and spark jubilant celebrations in the stands and on the pitch.

Key Moments

GOAL 13 Dias turns into his own net to give Wolves the lead

GOAL 58 Alvarez equalises for City

GOAL 66 Hwang puts Wolves back in front

Teams

Wolves: Sa, Semedo, Kilman, Dawson, Toti, Ait-Nouri (Doherty, 74), Gomes (Traore, 67), Lemina, Hwang (Jonny, 86), Cunha (Silva, 86), Neto.

Subs not used: Bentley, S.Bueno, Hodge, Sarabia, Kalajdzic.

Manchester City: Ederson, Walker, Akanji, Dias, Ake (Grealish, 79), Kovacic (Phillips, 65), Nunes (Bobb, 45), Foden, Alvarez, Doku, Haaland.

Subs not used: Ortega, Carson, Gvardiol, Gomez, Lewis.