Wolves bare their teeth
Midlanders can upset big sides says City’s Kompany
VINCENT KOMPANY says Wolves could help Manchester City finish top dogs again.
City’s title-winning skipper is convinced the top flight’s new boys are going to claim some big-name casualties, and Pep Guardiola’s men survived a real scare as this fearless pack of Wolves bared their teeth.
“I’m confident they will take points off our competitors,” said Kompany. “They are the typical type of team geared up to get big scalps because they have enough quality to play themselves out of situations when they are under pressure.
“The other thing is their key players work hard and that’s always a good mix. I’m convinced they will surprise one or two sides. They don’t behave or play like a Championship team that has just been promoted.”
Last year’s runaway Premier League winners were certainly stunned when last season’s runaway Championship side had the audacity to take the lead.
It came in controversial circumstances – Willy Boly bundling the ball home with his arm – but that should not detract from the quality of this Wolves display.
City were understandably unhappy about it, but in fairness to referee Martin Atkinson, the offence was only apparent with the benefit of several slow-motion replays.
That did not stop the hurt, with City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan slamming the referee’s performance. He said: “Fortunately we scored one so we take a point, but unfortunately the referee was probably the worst performer, and that’s why we lost two points. It was not just one mistake in this situation – there were two. First of all it was offside and then it was a clear handball, so with the linesman, I expect a Premier League referee to see that and make the correct decision.”
Boly’s 57th-minute goal never quite looked like being enough against a side of City’s quality and the visitors quickly got themselves back on level terms with a bullet header from Aymeric Laporte.
City rattled the woodwork three times and spurned a couple of decent opportunities but do not let that disguise the punchiness of this Wolves performance.
They went for it, undaunted by City’s reputation, and were not afraid to have a go. When they did get breached, there was keeper Rui Patricio to show his class. He pulled off a couple of stunning stops but none better than his acrobatic 23rd-minute diving save which left Raheem Sterling looking on in disbelief.
The England man could hardly believe his eyes as he watched the Portugal international go full stretch towards his top corner to fingertip the ball on to the bar.
Wolves skipper Conor Coady said that having a go at City from the off was not bravado – they fancied they could do a job.
“We are here, we know what we need to do and we’ve got to take a lot of positives from that performance,” he said.
“We’re slightly disappointed we didn’t come away with a win. I know that might sound daft, but we are. We wanted to win the game, simple as that. To play like that against a world-class side is great.
“It was tough, they move you about, but we stuck to our guns, stayed together, and when you’re playing alongside the boys I am then you’re happy because they’re fantastic footballers.
“I trust those players more than anyone in the world. I really do. They are that good. We want to win. We’ve got that winning mentality from last season.”. WOLVES (5-4-1): Patricio 8; Doherty 7, Bennett 7, Coady 7, Boly 8, Jonny 7 (Vinagre 85); Neves 7, Moutinho 7, Jota 7, Costa 7 (Traore 72, 6); Jimenez 7. Booked: Coady. Goal: Boly 57. NEXT UP: Sheffield Wed (a), tomorrow EFL Cup. MAN CITY (4-3-3): Ederson 7; Mendy 7, Laporte 7, Kompany 6, Walker 7; B Silva 6 (Jesus 62, 5), Gundogan 7 (Sane 77, 5), Fernandinho 6; D Silva 7, Sterling 6 (Mahrez 85), Aguero 6. Goal: Laporte 69. NEXT UP: Newcastle (h), Sat PL. Referee: M Atkinson (W Yorkshire).
They have quality and key players work hard