Ref justice, but Blues must find way to win

CITY FIND AN EQUALISER AFTER GOING BEHIND TO A CONTROVERSIAL GOAL, BUT IT WILL STILL BE SEEN AS POINTS DROPPED AT PREM NEW BOYS

LAST season it was noticeable how often poor refereeing decisions played a major role when City actually lost points.

The Champions League defeats by Liverpool look like a 5-1 shellacking in black and white, but both games turned on crucial, and wrong, moments from the officials.

The home derby defeat by United was marked by Ashley Young escaping unpunished from a challenge that should have been penalty and red card.

Not that City can use that as an excuse – those are the breaks you get in football sometimes.

And such poor stuff from the officials only gets remembered when your team suffers as a result.

The key is to ride it out and win – that is what champions do.

So when Wolves went ahead as Willy Boly punched the ball into the net, you started to wonder whether this was going to be one of those days.

The handball, so clear on replays, might have been a tough call for the officials, but the fact that the big defender was also offside should have been easier to spot.

In the end, Aymeric Laporte’s thumping header – his first goal for the club – earned the Blues a point. But last season, this was the kind of game where City conjured up a late winner.

Indeed, it was the August Bank Holiday weekend when City went to Bournemouth, went behind and fought level before Sterling somehow found the far corner for a 2-1 win which sparked that record-breaking 18-match winning streak.

Such moments can make a big difference, and City need to recapture that quality if they are not to be drawn into a slugging match for the title.

Even though Wolves showed enough to suggest they will reap points from big teams this season, it has to be viewed as two points dropped.

Sergio Aguero hit bar and post, even though he was below par on the day, while Raheem Sterling saw a stunning half-volley from 25 yards miraculously turned onto the woodwork by the flying Rui Patricio.

In terms of endeavour and territory it was a fairly even first half, but it was the Blues who hit both post and bar.

Vincent Kompany looked uncharacteristically shaky in his 250th Premier League game, and presented Wolves with their first real chance.

His sloppy pass sent the home side away with a two-on-one, but when Ederson saved Diogo Jota’s shot, Raul Jimenez was offside when he tapped into an empty net.

City counter-attacked from the freekick and Sergio Aguero struck a post, symptomatic of a half in which he was some way below the man who destroyed Huddersfield last week.

Raheem Sterling thought he had bagged a world-class half-volleyed goal from 25 yards until Rui Patricio hurled himself high to his left to turn the ball against the woodwork again.

But after Boly’s illegal goal and Laporte’s leveller, it was City who came closest again, as Aguero twanged the bar from a 25-yard free-kick.