Match Report and Player Ratings: Wolves 1-2 Manchester City (Premier League) | OneFootball

Manchester City clawed back to earn a monumental three points on the road, as they defeated Wolves 1-2 at Molineux Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

City were unbeaten in the league before the game began, while the hosts were yet to get their first three points, with the Premier League champions the last opposition you want to face in that kind of form.

Following the international break, City looked to find some momentum for this batch of games, after a couple of underwhelming outings in the previous matches, including uninspiring draws against Newcastle and Inter.

The woes compiled for City, as the hosts took a surprising lead within the first seven minutes of this match, despite the early City dominance, as a swift counter-attack saw Strand Larsen latch onto the end of a Nelson Semedo cross, giving him a simple finish into an empty goal.

City eventually found their rhythm in the game and undone the hard work of the hosts, when an exquisite strike from the right foot of Josko Gvardiol found the top corner, levelling things up after 32 minutes.

With both sides level at the break and the home side nullifying the blues in all departments, it became clear that a moment of magic in the second half would be the difference maker between the two sides.

Creeping towards the full-time whistle, the anxiety of both sides and both sets of fans grew in the stadium, with each attack causing heart-in-mouth moments for both sides.

With the game looking to inevitably fizzle out as a 1-1 draw, the blues had a flurry of corners to try and get a late winner. Phil Foden whipped one in from the right corner which landed perfectly on the head of Stones, who’s bullet header created euphoria in the away end, giving City a priceless three points.

City fought tooth and nail to earn their victory, as they won three points which took them back to the top of the Premier League table. With that being said, here is how we rated the players’ performances in the 1-2 victory over Wolves!

Player Ratings

Starting XI

Ederson – 7.5

The Brazilian made a good save in the first half to prevent the game getting away from City, which allowed the blues to get back into the contest in the first half.

Rico Lewis – 7

Praise has been aplenty for Rico this season, but it wasn’t one of his best outings on Sunday, in a somewhat underwhelming display from the defender.

John Stones – 7.5

Stones will have to take partial blame for the Wolves goal, but who cares about that. 90+5, Johnny Stones; sound familiar?

Ruben Dias – 6.5

Dias likewise could have done better to stop the Wolves attack, not committing to the challenge which would’ve stopped the cross coming in for the opener.

Josko Gvardiol – 8.5 (MOTM)

Make no mistake about it, Josko Gvardiol is one of the best defenders in the world, and his goal and performance reflected exactly that against Wolves. An absolute colossus at both ends of the pitch for the blues.

Mateo Kovacic – 7.5

The injury to Rodri earlier this season has left a gaping hole in the midfield of City, but it doesn’t mean his successor has played poorly. Another fine display in midfield by the Croatian.

Ilkay Gundogan – 7

Life back in England may not have been what he quite dreamed of upon his return from Barcelona this summer, but the German probably didn’t anticipate seeing this much action given the injury to Rodrigo.

Bernardo Silva – 7

Popped up in good areas but couldn’t quite click into gear. Silva was involved in the centre of the “controversy” surrounding City’s late winner.

Savinho – 6

Worked hard but ultimately failed to deliver anything going forward, a poor performance from the winger on Sunday as he was replaced by Jack Grealish.

Erling Haaland – 6.5

An afternoon Haaland will want to forget this one. Invisible for large parts of the game.

Jeremy Doku – 7

Gave the fullbacks on both flanks a headache in each half before being replaced by Phil Foden after 65 minutes.

Substitutes

Phil Foden – 6.5

Largely ineffective upon arrival, but did manage to grab an assist from the corner for City’s second goal.

Jack Grealish – 7

A solid display from Grealish off the bench in this one, after replacing Savinho late in the second half.

Matheus Nunes – 7

Purely for winding the home crowd up following his introduction.