Manchester City 1 Wolves 0: City player ratings as City pick up a huge three points | OneFootball

Manchester City 1 (Kevin De Bruyne 35′)

Wolves 0

Here are the City player ratings as Manchester City beat Wolves 1-nil at the Etihad. The win sees Pep Guardiola’s side move up the third on the Premier League table and edge closer to securing Champions League football for next season. The game was a tense affair but all that mattered for Manchester City was picking up three points and they did that with a professional performance.

Ahead of kickoff, there was another peaceful protest over various ticketing issues from City fans. A large section of the home crowd remained in the concourse until the 6th minute of tonight’s match.

Erling Haaland returned to the City matchday squad after recovering from the ankle injury he sustained against Bournemouth at the end of March.

First half

There was a lively opening to the game in the first 10 minutes. Although there were no chances of note created by either team. Pep Guardiola’s side looked cool and calm in possession. Wolves’ high defensive line did look exploitable from a City point of view. For Wolves, their high press was causing City issues, as was the long ball over the top of the Manchester City defence. But to start the game both teams had cancelled each other out.

After a lively opening to the game entered a holding pattern. Long-range efforts that sailed wide from André for Wolves and Omar Marmoush were the only chances of note. But Wolves should have opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Some quality play from Matheus Cunha set Jean-Ricner Bellegarde free on the right. Bellegarde was clean through on goal after Manchester City’s high defensive line was breached. Bellegarde chose to square the ball to Marshall Munetsi in the penalty box for a tap-in near the penalty spot but his pass was too strong with Ederson in trouble.

Wolves hit the post and Josko Gvardiol helps keep the score nil-all.

Wolves were unlucky not to take the lead again in the 27th minute. Matheus Cunha drove into the Manchester City penalty before being challenged by a trio of City defenders. The ball fell to Rayan Ait-Nouri, who smacked a shot against the post, with Ederson beaten. The rebound fell back to Ait-Nouri, who saw his goal-bound shot blocked on the line by Josko Gvardiol. The ball was then played out for a corner to Manchester City’s relief. But Wolves were the team creating the chances and were playing with confidence.

Nico O’Reilly would see a shot saved by Jose Sá in the 32nd minute. Manchester City had a spell of possession that pinned Wolves on the edge of their own area. Jeremy Doku played in O’Reilly who unleashed a powerful shot goal that Sá kept out with a quality save.

KEVIN DE BRUYNE GIVES MANCHESTER CITY THE LEAD!!!!!!

In the 35th minute, Manchester City would take the lead. Bernardo Silva dispossessed André in midfield which set Ilkay Gundogan away. Gundogan played it wide on the left wing to Jeremy Doku who drove at the Wolves defence. His cutback found De Bruyne on the penalty spot, who easily beat Jose Sá with a composed finish to give Pep Guardiola’s side the lead.

Following De Bruyne’s goal, the rest of the first half played out without incident. Although there was a notable lift in intensity from Pep Guardiola’s squad after the goal. They pinned Wolves deep but couldn’t add a second goal before the interval.

Second half

Manchester City began the second half well and were looking assured in possession. However, for the opening 10 minutes of the second half, no chances of note were created. Omar Marmoush did go down with an injury after having his ankle stood on accidentally which brought a stop to proceedings. After Marmoush received treatment the game resumed.

Matheus Cunha hits the post after Nico O’Reilly gave possession away in midfield.

The lull in the game appeared to spark Wolves back to life. In the 56th minute, after Nico O’Reilly was dispossessed in midfield, Matheus Nunes struck the post. O’Reilly lost possession in a dangerous area in midfield which allowed Wolves the opportunity to counter. The ball found its way to Matheus Cunha, who hit a curling effort into the upright with Ederson scrambling.

That would be Nico O’Reilly’s last moment in the match as he was replaced by Manuel Akanji a minute later. Josko Gvardiol moved out to left-back to accommodate Akanji’s introduction.

In the 68th minute, Omar Marmoush fired a left-footed shot from inside the area over the bar. The chance came after Josko Gvardiol played in Jeremy Doku on the left wing. The ball was worked to Marmoush on the right who cut inside and fired a shot over from a good position.

Bernardo Silva goes down after a heavy challenge from Rayan Ait-Nouri.

Rayan Ait-Nouri was lucky to stay on the pitch in the 72nd minute. The Wolves left-back lost possession and caught Bernardo Silva with a nasty challenge. After a VAR check, Ait-Nouri stayed on the pitch and wasn’t issued with a yellow card either. It was a puzzling decision in all honesty.

As the game entered the final 5 minutes Manchester City were dominant in possession and limited the opportunities for Wolves to get forward. Pep Guardiola’s side was doing a professional job of second-half control of the game as second-half stoppage time approached.

Pep Guardiola’s side saw off 5 minutes of stoppage time to pick up a crucial victory and three points in their bid to secure Champions League football for next season.

City player ratings

Ederson-6/10: He was good in possession but didn’t have any saves of note to make.

Matheus Nunes-6.5/10: Did his job well on the night against his former team.

Ruben Dias-7/10: Defended well and made several crucial interventions throughout the game.

Josko Gvardiol-8/10: Another quality showing from Gvardiol. His goal-line clearance in the first half was crucial.

Nico O’Reilly-6.5/10: Took up some dangerous positions going forward but did give the ball away in a dangerous area before he was substituted in the second half. He wasn’t City’s worst player but the decision to substitute him by Guardiola did make sense at the time.

Mateo Kovacic-7.5/10: The Croatian midfielder played a crucial role for his team. Helped Manchester City control the game for the most part.

Ilkay Gundogan-6/10: Spent the majority of the game on the periphery of proceedings. Not his night.

Kevin De Bruyne-7.5/10: Scored what could be his final goal at the Etihad. De Bruyne was lively before he ran out of legs before being substituted.

Bernardo Silva-8.5/10: Manchester City’s man-of-the-match in my opinion. He did everything for his team to ensure they picked up a crucial three points.

Jeremy Doku-7.5/10: Probably City’s most dangerous attacking player for the entire 90 minutes. Grabbed an assist for De Bruyne’s winner and took up dangerous positions throughout the game.

Omar Marmoush-6/10: Made some dangerous runs that weren’t picked out. Besides that, he didn’t get into the game.

Substitutes

Manuel Akanji-7/10: Came on for Nico O’Reilly in the second half to add more defensive solidity. He did that and did his job well.

Phil Foden- N/A: Not on long enough to mark.

Rico Lewis- N/A: Not on long enough to mark.

James McAtee- N/A: Not on long enough to mark.

Nico- N/A: Not on long enough to mark.