Man City hold off Wolves fightback to make winning start

4 years ago 486
Manchester City players celebratePhil Foden has been directly involved in 22 goals in 33 starts for Manchester City (12 goals, 10 assists)

Manchester City held off a second-half Wolves fightback to begin their quest to regain the Premier League title with a win at Molineux.

City did the damage in a superb first half as Professional Footballers' Association Player of the Year Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden, playing for the first time since being sent home from England duty in disgrace, both found the net.

At that stage it seemed a case of how many the visitors would get, with Foden and Raheem Sterling both going close and Wolves keeper Rui Patricio making two decent saves.

However, City ran out of steam after the break.

Daniel Podence twice went close for the hosts and Kyle Walker hacked a scuffed Ruben Neves shot off the line, before Raul Jimenez, scorer of 27 goals last season, netted for the second time in this one 12 minutes from time.

However, Wolves were unable to repeat last term's exploits, when they came back from 2-0 down to win this fixture, and Gabriel Jesus' injury-time effort sealed victory for Pep Guardiola's side.

De Bruyne and Foden shine

De Bruyne was superb in the number 10 role as City made light of the absence of seven senior players.

In opening the scoring from the penalty spot, after he had been fouled by Romain Saiss, the Belgian extended his record of being involved in more goals - 34, 14 goals and 20 assists - than any other player since the start of the 2019-20 league campaign.

While it was those attributes that led to him winning the PFA prize despite playing for a team that finished the season 18 points behind champions Liverpool, it was De Bruyne's tenacious streak that came to the fore in the second period on Monday, when City had to be on their toes defensively and new £40m centre-back Nathan Ake showed his class.

But if De Bruyne was the standout City player, it was also a good night for Foden.

The 20-year-old England midfielder has been shielded to an extent by City since that regrettable incident in Iceland, which both he and Guardiola said was a mistake. Whatever lessons Foden needs to learn off the field, he is evidently a very able student when it comes to matters on it.

His goal was a thing of beauty, as he firmly finished off a move he started from Sterling's cutback. Foden also nearly scored a sensational second with a floated effort that just went wide of the far post.

What's next?

Wolves travel to London Stadium to take on West Ham United on Sunday (19:00 BST kick-off).

Manchester City host Bournemouth in the Carabao Cup third round on Thursday (19:45), before taking on Leicester City at Etihad Stadium in the Premier League on Sunday (16:30).

More to follow.

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Wolverhampton Wanderers

Squad number11Player nameRui Patrício

Squad number37Player nameTraoré

Squad number15Player nameBoly

Squad number16Player nameCoady

Squad number27Player nameSaïss

Squad number5Player nameMarçal

Squad number28Player nameJoão Moutinho

Squad number8Player nameRúben Neves

Squad number7Player namePedro Neto

Squad number9Player nameJiménez

Squad number10Player nameDaniel Podence

Squad number17Player nameFabio Silva

Squad number29Player nameRúben Vinagre

Squad number32Player nameDendoncker

Manchester City

Squad number31Player nameEderson

Squad number2Player nameWalker

Squad number5Player nameStones

Squad number6Player nameAké

Squad number22Player nameMendy

Squad number25Player nameFernandinho

Squad number16Player nameRodri

Squad number47Player nameFoden

Squad number17Player nameDe Bruyne

Squad number7Player nameSterling

Squad number9Player nameGabriel Jesus

Squad number21Player nameTorres

Line-ups

Wolves

11Rui Patrício37Traoré15Boly16Coady27Saïss5Marçal de OliveiraSubstituted forVinagreat 8'minutes28João MoutinhoSubstituted forDendonckerat 78'minutes8Neves7NetoSubstituted forSoares Silvaat 78'minutes9Jiménez10Castelo Podence

Substitutes

17Soares Silva20Machado Ferreira21Ruddy29Vinagre32Dendoncker49Kilman59Buur

Man City

31Ederson2Walker5Stones6Aké22MendyBooked at 35mins25Fernandinho16RodriBooked at 86mins47Foden17De Bruyne7SterlingSubstituted forTorresat 81'minutes9Gabriel JesusBooked at 35mins

Substitutes

13Steffen21Torres26Mahrez30Otamendi48Delap69Doyle82Bernabé

Live Text

Match ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, Manchester City 3.

90'+6'

Second Half ends, Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, Manchester City 3.

90'+5'

Goal! Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, Manchester City 3. Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) right footed shot from the left side of the box to the top left corner. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.

90'+4'

Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Rui Patrício.

90'+4'

Attempt saved. Gabriel Jesus (Manchester City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the bottom left corner. Assisted by Kevin De Bruyne.

90'+1'

Corner, Manchester City. Conceded by Conor Coady.

89'

Corner, Wolverhampton Wanderers. Conceded by Fernandinho.

88'

Foul by Benjamin Mendy (Manchester City).

88'

Adama Traoré (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick on the right wing.

87'

Attempt missed. Willy Boly (Wolverhampton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box is too high. Assisted by Rúben Neves following a set piece situation.

86'

Rodrigo (Manchester City) is shown the yellow card.

86'

Foul by Rodrigo (Manchester City).

86'

Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

81'

Substitution, Manchester City. Ferran Torres replaces Raheem Sterling.

80'

Attempt saved. Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City) right footed shot from more than 35 yards is saved in the centre of the goal.

79'

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

79'

Foul by Leander Dendoncker (Wolverhampton Wanderers).

79'

Raheem Sterling (Manchester City) wins a free kick on the left wing.

79'

Foul by Willy Boly (Wolverhampton Wanderers).

78'

Goal! Wolverhampton Wanderers 1, Manchester City 2. Raúl Jiménez (Wolverhampton Wanderers) header from the centre of the box to the bottom right corner. Assisted by Daniel Podence with a cross following a corner.

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