Man City 2 Wolves 0 - Report

Wolves’ unbeaten run came to an end with a routine defeat at Manchester City.

Omar Marmoush opened the scoring inside six minutes to put the hosts ahead, who then missed a number of chances to extend their lead.

Antoine Semenyo finally made it 2-0 just before half-time, as City took control.

Wolves had a much better second half and they came close to getting a goal back, but they ultimately paid for a lacklustre first 45, as they fell to defeat.

Analysis

Rob Edwards made one change to his Wolves side by bringing in Jhon Arias for Tolu Arokodare.

Emmanuel Agbadou, Jorgen Strand Larsen and Fer Lopez were named on the bench, despite ongoing transfer negotiations for their potential departures.

Pep Guardiola made five changes following City’s Champions League defeat in midweek, as he benched star striker Erling Haaland.

New signing Marc Guehi started, as well as former Wolves player Matheus Nunes, while fellow former Wolves star Rayan Ait-Nouri was among the substitutes.

The first chance fell to debutant Guehi from a Bernardo Silva corner, but it was straight at goalkeeper Jose Sa.

Yerson Mosquera (Photo by Brett Patzke - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

Wolves then found themselves behind in the sixth minute. Nunes found some space and got beyond Hugo Bueno to whip in a superb cross from the right and Marmoush too easily got in front of Yerson Mosquera to knock it home.

It should have been 2-0 shortly after when a ball over the top released Semenyo, but he fired straight at Sa.

Rayan Cherki had a good chance when he was found inside the box, but he fired over, as Wolves struggled to contain the hosts.

When the visitors did get the ball into the final third, they were unable to pick the right passes, while the hosts were not turning the screw to assert their dominance, making for a fairly dull game.

City somehow did not score a second when a long ball saw Mosquera get himself in all sorts of problems and Marmoush cut inside for an easy finish, but saw his effort bounce back off the post and land in Sa’s arms.

A long VAR check then took place to determine whether Mosquera had handled the ball as Marmoush cut inside, and Premier League debutant referee Farai Hallam was sent to the monitor, but a spot kick was not given.

Mateus Mane (Photo by Brett Patzke - WWFC/Wolves via Getty Images)

The officials announced their decision on the basis that Mosquera’s arm was in a natural position.

Wolves looked set to get to half-time just 1-0 down, but City bagged a late second in a crushing blow to the visitors.

They worked it through the thirds before finding Semenyo, who took a touch to get away from Ladislav Krejci before finding the bottom corner.

Wolves had a counter-attack on the stroke of half-time and had numbers up, but Jackson Tchatchoua cut inside and lost it, as the whistle came.

That was Tchatchoua’s last involvement as Rodrigo Gomes replaced him at half-time, while Larsen also came on for Arias to give Wolves a focal point.

Wolves were already better for those changes and looked after the ball more effectively, while Joao Gomes came close with a direct free-kick.

Wolves came close when Mateus Mane’s excellent free-kick found Mosquera, who beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to the ball, but his header was blocked.

Mane was enjoying himself in the second half and was a nuisance for City, and on one occasion he beautifully turned inside the box and was bundled over, but no penalty was given.

Semenyo was inches away from his second when he cut inside and smashed a shot off the crossbar.

There was some concern as Andre received treatment for a knee injury. He was able to continue, but not before aiming his frustration at two water bottles as he launched one into the turf and kicked another.

Wolves almost had joy from a corner again when Mosquera flicked Mane’s delivery onto the crossbar.

Mosquera had a couple of shots blocked late on, as Wolves looked for a goal.

Despite a spirited second half display, Wolves were unable to get back into the game and were beaten.