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Wolves 0-3 Manchester City: Match report, player ratings, fan reaction and more

Manchester City faced off with Wolves in Saturday’s early Premier League kick-off.


Manchester City headed into the Wolves game as one of just two unbeaten teams in the Premier League this season, with Antonio Conte’s Tottenham the other.

Manchester City had scored the most goals in the division (20) and had the third-best defensive record, shipping six before Saturday.

They would have also temporarily gone top of the Premier League table if they picked up three points in Saturday’s early kick-off, with 1st-place Arsenal one point above and not in action until Sunday.

As for Wolves, they were down in 14th place with just one win to their name this campaign. Wolves had scored just three goals, but also conceded just four.

And when all was said and done on Saturday,

Manchester City took less than a minute to open the scoring on Saturday. Kevin De Bruyne whipped in a superb ball across the Wolves six-yard box, which missed Erling Haaland but was stabbed home by Jack Grealish.

Manchester City then doubled their lead 16 minutes in via Erling Haaland, who drove forward and smashed his shot past Sa with ease.

Wolves’ afternoon went from bad to worse as Nathan Collins was shown a straight red for a high challenge on Grealish 33 minutes in.

Despite going down to 10 men, Wolves had a bright start to the second half, but any hope of a comeback was killed off when KDB and Foden combined to make it 3-0 after 68 minutes.


Wolves player ratings

Jose Sa (5) - Didn’t make any huge mistakes but he still conceded 2.

Jonny (4.5) - Offered some attacking threat down the right but Jonny did lose the ball several times, leading to City attacks.

Nathan Collins (2) - Was sent off after 33 minutes.

Max Kilman (4) - Should have closed Haaland down better for City’s second.

Rayan Ait Nouri (4) - Was run ragged all afternoon by Phil Foden.

Matheus Nunes (5) - Like his midfield counterparts, Nunes struggled to keep De Bruyne and Silva at bay for much of the match.

Ruben Neves (5) - Really struggled to cope with the Man City press.

Joao Moutinho (4.5) - Should have tracked KDB better in the build-up to Grealish scoring.

Pedro Neto (5) - Was Wolves’ biggest attacking threat for much of the match.

Goncalo Guedes (5) - Caused Dias some issues with his pace but ultimately failed to test Ederson.

Daniel Podence (5) - Looked much brighter in the second half but was not clinical in the final third.

Substitutes

Boubacar Traore (5) - Gave Wolves some attacking spark.

Hwang Hee-Chan (3) - Failed to test Ederson.

Nelson Semedo (N/A)

Chem Campbell (N/A)

Manchester City player ratings

Ederson (6) - Had little to do on the save front but his distribution was good.

John Stones (6) - Played out of position at right-back but put in a decent shift nonetheless.

Manuel Akanji (6.5) - A calm presence at the back who through his weight around well.

Ruben Dias (5.5) - Struggled to deal with the pace of Wolves’ forwards at times.

Joao Cancelo (6) - A quiet by solid display from the full-back.

Rodri (6) - An aggressive start to the game but he calmed down and put in a solid shift.

Kevin De Bruyne (7.5) - Excellent cross for the opening goal and assisted Foden for the third.

Bernardo Silva (6.5) - Got the assist for Haaland’s first and pressed Wolves’ midfield very well.

Phil Foden (7.5) - Got the pre-assist for the first goal of the day and caused Wolves all sorts of issues down their left throughout the 90. Scored City’s third.

Jack Grealish (7) - Made a clever run for his goal. He also pressed well and won the ball back in some key areas, including for City’s second.

Erling Haaland (7.5) - Another superb display from the Norweigan, who was a nightmare for Wolves’ centre-backs. Excellent driving run and finish for City’s second.

Substitutes

Ilkay Gundogan (4)

Riyad Mahrez (4)

Julian Alvarez (4)

Cole Palmer (N/A)

Sergio Gomez (N/A)


Fan reaction

Expert view

Josh Barker

Josh Barker

Middlesbrough fan from the North East of England. @JoshBarker979 on Twitter.


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