Manchester City ended a four-game Premier League winless streak by comfortably defeating Wolverhampton Wanderers 2–0, thus narrowing the gap from leaders Arsenal to 4 points, at least for now.
After suffering losses in a derby against Manchester United and a Champions League match against Bodø/Glimt, Pep Guardiola’s team was expected to react positively, and that is exactly what happened against a Wolves side that had become defensively very difficult to break in recent weeks. City took control of the game very quickly and was rewarded with the opening goal when Matheus Nunes laid the ball off to Omar Marmoush, who was able to cleverly finish.
Leading the line ahead of Erling Haaland, Marmoush not only scored but was very unlucky not to get another one when the ball hit the post following a shot from him before the interval. Wolves seemed to have been awarded a penalty, but the VAR intervention showed that the decision before Yerson Mosquera’s handball was a wrongful decision. Almost immediately after that, City scored their second goal through Antoine Semenyo, who fired a low shot past the goalkeeper for his third goal in four matches since joining the Etihad.
The home team made a concerted effort in the second half, and both André and Mosquera came close to scoring from set-plays, while at the other end, Semenyo hit the crossbar. City, however, kept their composure and managed the game well to take the three points.
This victory once again captures City’s impressive record against the teams sitting at the bottom of the table and it keeps them well and truly in the title race debate. On the other hand, Wolves’ unbeaten run is over, and with survival still looking unlikely, the relegation zone seems closer than ever.
