NOT SO PERFECT FOR PEP
FIRE and fury at Molineux as Manchester City’s perfect record went up in smoke. Matheus Nunes was hounded off, Erling Haaland barely touched the ball and the champions looked uncharacteristically limp.
Nunes actually helped Wolves. That was not his fault but this place needed somebody to collectively rail against and the persistent and ferocious, jeering of their old midfielder did no harm to Gary O’Neil whatsoever.
It was uncomfortable for City, painful for Nunes, removed at the break with Wolves already a goal up. A nasty afternoon – nine bookings and a melee after full-time – and that is how you beat Pep Guardiola’s side, who looked bereft without Rodri.
He will not be there at Arsenal next Sunday either, which should come as a major worry.
With not as much control and more susceptible to counters, the absence of their sitting midfielder became ever more glaring. Hwang Hee-chan’s winner six minutes after the hour, on a trademark breakaway, offers a major boost to O’Neil, who had fielded significant criticism following the defeat at Ipswich Town a few days earlier.
This is the sort of occasion that can turn a manager’s fortunes and how Wolves celebrated it indicates they believe beating the Treble winners can act as a catalyst in a way a result against Liverpool recently might have.
‘If you beat the best team in the world, or possibly the best team ever, it’s a big result,’ said O’Neil. ‘It’s an unexpected three points against a team that will probably win the league again.’
This result was coming long before the maligned Craig Pawson blew the final whistle. The sight of Haaland, blunted by Craig Dawson and Max Kilman in registering only 15 touches, hurtling towards Pawson moments before the break told it all of City’s early frustration.
Hwang, already on a booking, had felled Kyle Walker and City implored Pawson to reach into his pocket again. Wolves played on the edge, thundering into tackles but City believed it had gone too far.
Yet as Guardiola made his way to the dressing room, he knew that a failure to break through a stubborn wall was why they trailed. ‘It’s not easy for Erling when there’s lots of players around him,’ Guardiola said. The solution was to call for teenager Oscar Bobb, replacing Nunes. ‘What a waste of money,’ rang out for the £53million man.
Things had become overly congested in the central areas of the pitch, City not really threatening sufficiently from wide. Dawson’s intervention when Haaland was destined to poke the visitors into an early lead, deflecting a Nunes centre away from the Norwegian, had been as close as they came.
Pawson ended up losing control and there is an irony that Guardiolamight have found himself in the book had he not been serving a one-match ban for three yellow cards. Sitting in the mstands, he was reduced to grumbling to sporting director Txiki Begiristain.
Wolves boldly kept three men in positions to fully capitalise when the opportunity arose. Neto is rather handy for that and the Portuguese caused untold issues down the City left. The opener, in the 13th minute, was all of his doing. Kovacic and Phil Foden crowded each other’s space and Neto was off, 15 yards into his own half. Foden could not keep up and Nathan Ake was done for pace, Neto charging towards the byline. He looked up, saw Cunha timing his advance, only for Ruben Dias to intercept beyond Ederson for them. Molineux resembled a bear pit and that only heightened further 13 minutes after the break. Not for the quality of Julian Alvarez’s free-kick, helped into the top corner by Jose Sa, but the award.
Bobb appeared to be given a free role and progressed towards the box when Joao Gomes nudged him. Bobb bundled over, Pawson blew for the foul and this place lost its head.
Yet the theme of this was that Wolves had the measure of City. Hwang had his goal, deliriously twirling away into the corner after mopping up a scramble. To get to that position, Wolves clipped a ball over Ake and the sense of chaos into City’s box saw Dias block Hwang’s first effort, before the South Korean was afforded a second bite, Walker narrowly failing to head it off the line. WOLVES (3-4-3): Sa 7; Kilman 8, Dawson 8.5, Toti 7; Semedo 7, Lemina 7.5, Joao Gomes 8 (Traore 67min, 6), Ait-Nouri 7 (Doherty 74); Neto 8, Cunha 7.5 (Silva 86), Hwang 7.5 (Jonny 86). Booked: Sa, Lemina, Neto, Fabio Silva, Hwang. Subs (not used): Bentley, Bueno, Kalajdzic, Sarabia, Hodge.
MAN CITY (4-1-4-1): Ederson 6; Walker 6, Akanji 5, Dias 5, Ake 5 (Grealish 80); Kovacic 5.5 (Phillips 65, 6); Foden 5.5, Alvarez 7, Nunes 6 (Bobb 46, 6), Doku 6; Haaland 5. Booked: Walker, Kovacic, Alvarez, Doku. Subs (not used): Ortega, Carson, Gomez, Gvardiol, Lewis. Referee: C Pawson (South Yorkshire) 4.