Wolves Fans' Verdict v Manchester City: "We're so proud"

Rob Cartwright

What's your verdict on the match? We’ve always had a fantastic club, with fantastic fans. Now we have a fantastic team with a manager to match.

I expected us to play the ‘reserves’ as is the norm now in cup games. I also expected Nuno to prepare his team to fully compete with the best team in UK.

I didn’t expect a clean sheet; nobody did to be fair. The Man City fans we walked around the stadium with before the game were sure it was going to be 10-0 or more, reminding us that Stoke were on the end of seven goals recently.

They were only kids, but how I wanted to bump into them after the game; those spotty kids and their smug parents!

Man City dominated the first half hour. It was backs to the wall stuff. We couldn’t get hold of the ball, but the defence stood solid. They tackled, blocked, threw themselves in front of the ball and cleared to the half way line, time after time. Thankfully, they were giving very few free kicks away and you could see the confidence growing in our play.

Our first real chance to score came just before half time, with their keeper saving from Bright. We were to get a further three golden chances to score.

We came out much more positive, in the second half, and started playing the passing game we have come to expect. Also, by counter attacking with more pace we started to cause the City defence problems of their own. For all their possession, it was Wolves who were creating the best goal opportunities.

After an hour Costa had the best chance of the game, so far, and Wolves were getting on top. (yes - we were getting on top, away at Man City).

It was end to end stuff in the last 15 minutes. City brought on the big boys - big in money, not in heart! We brought on Ronan. The teenager went on to have a fabulous 40 minutes, running at their left back.

Bright had a further two great chances, but made it easy for their keeper to save. He did great to get into these positions, so you can’t criticise the teenager.

When one on one with the goalkeeper in the last minute of added time, he hesitated before shooting, the keeper blocked. Cavaleiro was free in front of an open goal.

It’s fine margins and that was the moment we knew it wasn’t going to be.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? The whole team deserve an enormous amount of credit. Batth and Coady were rocks in defence. Hause started shaky but grew in statue at have a great night too.

Price and N’Diaye were excellent in the middle. Vinagre had a torrid half hour following Sterling’s shadow, only to match him and come out on top during the second half. Bennett proved once more to be a very able deputy.

I felt both Marshall and Costa were subdued with Ronan and Cavaleiro doing better when replacing them. Maybe they could have come on sooner?

Big shout out to Will Norris. He’s going to be some keeper. He dealt with everything City could throw at him. Well protected by his fantastic defence, but that’s four League Cup games now and four clean sheets.

I’ll leave the penalty shoot-out, except to say we were 1-0 up!

The night ended in disappointment. Not the performance, or result...just the four hour journey home due to car park chaos, roadworks and our good friend the M6.

That journey home was filled with PRIDE.

We created four great chances, but Bright Enobakhare shot at Claudio Bravo on three occasions and Helder Costa couldn't beat the keeper either. At the other end, we are the first team to block out Man City for six months.

I also thought it was a great gesture by Nuno to dedicate that performance to Steve Bruce, by picking eight English players in the starting 11.

Heather Large

What's your verdict on the match? What a night to remember at the Etihad. To hold one of the best sides in Europe at 0-0 for 120 minutes was a truly incredible achievement.

From start to finish, Wolves showed such passion and desire - they were magnificent, I really can't praise them enough.

We thwarted so many of Man City's attempts to break through our defence with complete composure and teamwork. But we didn't just sit back and defend for lives, every opportunity we had to attack, we grabbed and we outsmarted the City defence more than once.

We even had some great chances to score but sadly it just wasn't to be and we couldn't make them count on the night.

It was heartbreaking to lose on penalties, especially for the players after they had done so well, but by then it didn't really matter so much because Wolves had already done us proud.

Our fans turned the City of Manchester Stadium into Molineux for the evening with song after song as we cheered on our team of heroes.

Although many of the Wolves side looked distraught when it was all over, they can certainly all hold their heads up high.

Wolves ay we.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Every single player in old gold and black can be very proud of themselves.

Will Norris was outstanding once again in goal while Danny Batth, Conor Coady and Kortney Hause formed a human brick wall blocking everything that came their way. While Bright Enobakhare ran his socks off and showed what a talented player he will be with a bit of work on his finishing touch.

Jack Price and Ben Marshall were also immense in midfield, helping to strength the Wolves defence when needed but pushing forward with the ball when they could. But it was purely a team effort and every one of Nuno's men played their part well.

Russ Evers (Hatherton Wolves)

What's your verdict on the match? This could have been heartbreaking if I was not so proud of the team as we left in the usual Manchester rain.

A quite brilliant performance that oh so easily could – and truly should – have seen us wrap this up in 90 minutes.

Nine changes to Saturday's starting line up and we became the first team to prevent the champions elect from scoring this season. We may even be the first team to get knocked out of the competition without conceding a goal.

But oh those missed chances! Helder Costa with one and Bright on three occasions, all having done superbly to have run through the City defence only to falter with just their keeper – who was their man of the match – to beat.

And when they made their four allotted subs they brought on £200milllion of talent in De Bruyne, Sane, Stones and Walker. Pep shook the hands of every Wolves player at the end and they celebrated as if they had beaten Barcelona.

Disappointed with the penalties but overall this paints a picture and the next time we play them, with the first team, it may well be in the Premier League.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Stand-out performers were Norris, Coady and my man of the match – captain Danny. Great effort lads

Chris Hughes

What's your verdict on the match? If you want a mark of how well Nuno’s philosophy has been embedded in this squad, watch this game back. Unusually tasked with facing a team with better quality than us and expecting to have much less of the ball than we normally do, Wolves demonstrated why Nuno spent so much of pre-season drilling the defence until they had shape and organisation down to a fine art.

From our seats up in the Gods of the impressive Etihad Stadium we had an excellent, almost top-down view of the field and could clearly see the way the team worked out of possession, allowing City to have the ball at the back but harrying whenever they moved through the transitional phases into midfield or the forward line.

When one player pressed and moved out of position, another dropped in to fill his place and retain the defensive shape. Watching our players work to keep City at bay was almost more impressive than any of the swashbuckling attacking football we’ve played this season.

Being the first team to stop Pep’s side from scoring this season is mightily impressive, especially considering he rolled out his first choice front three of Sterling, Aguero and Gabriel Jesus who have been regularly putting Premier League sides to the slaughter this season.

Don’t let my eulogising over our defensive efforts give the impression that this was a game of attack vs defence though. When we did get the ball we were pretty impressive ourselves at times and actually created the most clear cut chances of the game. The full-time reaction of Guardiola man-hugging his goalkeeper Claudio Bravo spoke volumes about just how much the stopper had done to see his side in the draw for the next round, even before the penalty shoot out.

Four times during the regulation 90 minutes we managed to release a player for a run at Bravo in one on one situation. On all four occasions he was equal to the task. Some will criticise Bright for wasting three of those chances but would do well to remember that two of them were fashioned by his own strength, power, pace and skill. With a bit of work on his finishing we definitely have a gem of a player on our hands.

For me, there was no sense of heartbreak at being knocked out on penalties. Pre-match expectations of many that keeping them below five would be an achievement meant that, even after Aguero’s Panenka to seal the 4-1 shoot-out defeat, I felt nothing more than immense pride at the performance of both the players and the travelling fans who got behind the team throughout the game and still stood to praise them after the defeat.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? It was hard to pick out anyone who didn’t impress. It was such a solid team performance. If anyone was a little subdued then maybe Marshall could have done more with his time on the pitch.

I’d prefer to try and pick out the players who really excelled. I’ve already mentioned Bright’s poor finishing but that was the only black mark against an outstanding performance in the lone striker role. He caused the City defence all kinds of problems but also did an excellent job when we didn’t have the ball of dropping deep to track Yaya Toure in midfield.

Vinagre was excellent on the left, dealing with everything thrown at him by some big name opponents in Sterling, Danilo, Walker and De Bruyne at various stages of the game. Despite facing such illustrious opposition he still found plenty of opportunities to get forward and cause problems at the other end.

A final mention goes to Will Norris. Four games. Four clean sheets. This lad is a real find. He made some good saves and commanded his area well throughout the game. Leaving the Etihad as the first goalkeeper to shut out City this season will be very pleasing for the young man.

Clive Smith

What's your verdict on the match? Well what to say after a performance like that So near yet... Plenty of 'if only' moments. The game went on for ever, perhaps because I kicked every ball and blocked shots for most of the first half. Well done Wolves. I have to say they played above and beyond my expectations against a very good side. To keep a clean sheet deserves immense praise.

Not sure we ever managed to line up 3-4-3 tonight. There was a more rigid five across the back and it looked like 5-4-1. At times even that did not look enough. Our left side had their work cut out and we needed seven across the back to plug the gaps, specially between Vinagre and Hause. Both took a while to get into the pace of the game while Marshall on the right (mainly) just watched as the first 20 minutes went by.

We found it hard to retain the ball for any length of time which led to more last ditch tackles, saves and a few sighs of relief as City were wasteful.

Second half we were better by far. More composed on the ball, less panic and our confidence grew. Our passing game improved and chances came.

What to say about Enobhakare? Crucify him for his wastefulness or put an arm around him and give him some love Two great chances had come and gone before his third one on one in the dying moments of full time. If only eh!

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Norris was again outstanding when blocking and saving shots. A couple of poor clearances the only criticism.

Vinagre started looking out of his depth and a little naive at times. Fare play to the lad he got better and better as the game went on.

Bennett seemed to attract less attention down the right. He did ok although, unsurprisingly, looked short of pace at times.and weary.

Hause, Coady and Batth not only put a double shift in but worked over time as well – take a day off lads you have earned it. You can see why Nuno kept them in the starting XI, they provided a real solid base at the back.

Price and N'Diaye spent a lot of time chasing shadows and trying to get a tackle or foot in here or there. N'Diaye also managed to get into advanced positions when we started to break, although he rarely got the ball given to him.

Costa found it hard to get into the game. He still looks quite a bit off the form and fitness he had prior to March last season.

Marshall started really poorly. His body language looked poor and it took a while for him to get into the game. There was some improvement, but like Costa, his form and fitness looks below par.

Enobakhare. Bless him. Yesterday really could have been his day. His 16 minutes of fame. For all the good things he did and the chances he created himself he is my man of the match. I hope he is not destroyed by this game.

Cav did well as a sub although he needed to be quicker with his decision making. Ronan looked initially in awe of the game but soon got into it.

Bonatini brought a bit more composure but lacked the excitement factor of Bright.

Adam Virgo

What's your verdict on the match? Nuno Espirito Santo is the best manager Wolves have had in such a long time. To go to the Etihad, where City haven’t failed to score since April and keep a clean sheet is an incredible achievement.

That comes down to the hard work that every player put in last night, as well as Nuno’s brilliant tactics. The fans last night were unbelievable once again and I’m sure the players thrived off that. Not only did we just keep a clean sheet though, we had four clear-cut chances and probably the best opportunities in the game although they did have a couple themselves through Sterling and Aguero.

All of us at the end of 90 minutes were stood wondering how we hadn’t won the game which speaks absolute volumes about how far we have come since Nuno took charge.

For the majority of the first half we struggled more than we did at any other point in the game if I’m honest. Every time we had the ball they pressed high and forced us into mistakes but it was always going to be tough at the Etihad. That Bright chance, when he knocked Mangala off the ball I genuinely thought we were going to take the lead but Bravo did do well on that one, I still think with a bit more composure he would have finished it though.

Second half I thought we were brilliant. We ended up with around 43 per cent possession for the second half alone which is crazy considering most teams that go away to City would have far less. The way we soaked up pressure, caught them out in possession and countered them was brilliant, you can see we had a specific game plan and it worked.

You can’t just go to a place like the Etihad, defend for 90 minutes without having a go, if you believe you can win the game you always have a chance and we certainly gave ourselves the best chance possible.

Extra time we defended unbelievably well. We survived a few scares and Kortney Hause made an exceptional block to deny City from scoring. I think we were aiming for penalties once we got to extra time, especially as time went on which was completely understandable considering how tired everyone probably was. It still didn’t stop Vinagre from sending Kyle Walker back to Tottenham though, a filthy bit of skill.

In the end Claudio Bravo won City the game. Four golden chances which we should have been more clinical with but Bravo still had to save them which he did well. Their penalties were fantastic to be fair, from our point of view there’s not much you can do if the keeper guesses correctly and saves it.

We also made nine changes and the likes of Jota, Neves and Saiss weren’t even in the squad. City had all of their best attacking players on the pitch at some point bar David Silva so it shows we weren’t pushovers. They had to bring on their big guns to try and score past us but we stayed strong and Nuno’s game plan worked a treat.

Who played well – and who didn't impress? Everyone played fantastically well last night, Nuno got his tactics spot on and the fans were excellent as always. I know we missed huge opportunities, Bright having the majority but you win, draw and lose as a team and everyone played for each other last night.

I know Bright missed three glorious chances but I still think he had a good game. To even get those chances away at Man City is hard enough, two of them he earned himself by shrugging off Mangala. I thought he did well up top considering a lot of the time he was on his own. He should have been our hero last night but it wasn’t to be.

He’s got fantastic skill and when going past players he’s a joy to watch, if he could finish then he’d be an incredible player. I’m confident Nuno can get the best out of him, he’s still only 19 and got so much ahead of him, hopefully last night doesn’t knock his confidence too much because he’s a brilliant player at times.

Will Norris, absolutely fantastic from him once again. Four games and four clean sheets, he’s only 24 as well. He caught a lot of crosses to relieve pressure and made some very smart saves last night, mainly from Aguero. The one where he messed his kick up and pushed the ball away from the Argentine was exceptionally good. He’s got a huge career ahead of him and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him as our starting goalkeeper in more games.

Jack Price and Alfred N’diaye in midfield were unbelievable last night. Cutting out a lot of important passes, forcing City to go out wide as much as possible. Neither of them being shy to go forward occasionally when we won the ball as well. Gundogan and Toure are Man City’s “backup” midfielders shall I say and they’re both still top players so for Price and N’diaye to do the job they did on them was very impressive.

The whole team defended superbly but the back five as it was for a lot of the game did superbly well to stop the likes of Sterling, Silva, Sane, De Bruyne, Jesus and Aguero from doing too much damage. Obviously they were going to get some chances, a couple were good opportunities too but we limited them to a lot less than they would have liked that’s for sure. Vinagre got up and down a lot more than Bennett which was expected, I’m sure his legs were like jelly after the game the amount of running up and down the pitch he did.

A memorable performance from every player and the team as a whole. It’s obviously gutting we got knocked out on penalties considering we know that if we had taken even just one of those chances, it could have been a different story. Onto QPR Saturday where hopefully we can carry on the positive momentum and get another huge three points.