Dave Edwards: Wolves decision was correct, but where is the consistency?

The performance was excellent and to take Man City that far into the game and get undone by a VAR decision is frustrating.

My problem isn’t with them getting the wrong decision, because I think if that was the other way around I would expect it to be a goal for Wolves, but it’s more the consistency, which I get really frustrated with.

Gary O’Neil said after the game that they wanted clarification on the West Ham goal last year.

I was the commentator on that game and I think it should have been a goal at the time.

I think this is more substantial. Maybe he’s not quite as in line as Chirewa last season, but Bernardo Silva was closer to start with and he’s unbalanced Jose Sa.

As the ball has come to the box, he’s nudged into him and then he’s pulled away. That means that Sa’s got so many different things to contend with. As that ball is coming to the box he’s going to be aware of Silva.

He’s going to have to rebalance himself and all that’s happened in a split second. On VAR, they slow it down far too slow for the officials to go and look at it and make a really fair decision.

When they show it in full speed, you can see how quickly all that happens. That does affect Jose Sa’s decision-making.

I do think it probably should have been a goal. But after the explanation that we had last season, and even more so that the on-field decision was to overturn it, I think that’s completely wrong.

I know Gary O’Neil was trying to remain calm after the game, but there is a definite unconscious bias towards the bigger team.

I’m not just saying against Wolves and always against Wolves, although it does feel that way. I feel the bigger teams get those decisions.

I feel if that was at the Etihad and it was the other way around in the last minute for Wolves to win it, there’s absolutely no chance that’s getting overturned.

That’s where Wolves are at the moment and they have to try and move on and there were lots of positives to take.

Switching to a back five was a change that everyone expected and it looked like the old Wolves again.

I thought the players, to a huge amount of credit, carried this one out pretty much perfectly. They do look more secure in a back five. There’s no doubt about that.

They’re allowed to defend a little bit deeper. I think it brings out the best in Semedo and Ait-Nouri, because they haven’t got that huge emphasis on defending.

They can still get themselves forward, as you saw on numerous occasions in the game, with Semedo being an outlet on that right-hand side. Ait-Nouri really drifted all over the pitch as well.

But the back three in particular, against some difficult opponents, they handled themselves really well.

Bueno did well, Toti was a little shaky at the start but I thought he really grew into the game and Dawson was back to his absolute best.

That’s two occasions now where he’s really got the better of Erling Haaland.

You can see that Dawson’s straight next to him all the time. He’s trying to unbalance him. He’s trying to be physical with him. You can see Haaland getting very frustrated.

I was interested to see how they would line up in front of that, whether they would go with the two up front and play a flat three in midfield.

Joao Gomes was released a little bit higher, to play on the right of the front three, almost like a right number 10.

I thought he was absolutely fabulous. I thought his ball-winning skills were exceptional.

Matheus Cunha is the difference when Wolves play the bigger teams, to be able to transition them from defence to attack.

If they just had one more player, like Pedro Neto, like they did last season in this game, I feel like that might have been enough to maybe get a couple more goals against this Man City team.

It wasn’t to be, but they did score a tremendous goal with the composure they showed in the build-up.

Bueno did really well under a bit of pressure and the cross from Nelson Samedo was sublime, with a good finish by Larsen.

It’s just a shame that Semedo missed his chance in the first half, if he can put that away it’s a different game completely.

What Wolves will be most pleased with is the chances that they limited Man City to.

Jose Sa came back into the team and made some really good saves, but ultimately they won the game with a dodgy VAR decision and the full-back scoring on his weaker foot in the top corner.

Now, it’s all about how they can follow that up next at Brighton and start trying to get points on the table.