Sergio sits it out
Manchester City were supposed to swat away most of the opposition this season. But Sergio Aguero and his team-mates had one of those days in the 1-1 draw with newly-promoted Wolves.
WOLvES 1 Boly (57) MANCHESTER CITy 1 Laporte (69)
Newly-promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers provided the rest of the Premier League with hope as they showed how it is possible to stifle Manchester City. They ended City’s 100% start to their title defence as the points were shared in front of a passionate Molineux crowd. Last season’s winners of the Championship, admittedly, had a goalkeeper in fine form, survived their opponents hitting the woodwork three times and had a bit of luck from the officials. But they were full of intensity and carried enough of a threat themselves to always keep City honest. And, for 12 minutes in the second half, they could dream of victory, only for Aymeric Laporte to cancel out Willy Boly’s goal, which had a suspicion of handball about it. City dropped just 14 points out of a possible 114 last season, so taking two off them was a good scalp for Wolves. Pep Guardiola refused to pin any blame on the officials and insisted he always knew this was going to be a tough fixture. “I didn’t see their goal,” he said. “I’m not a referee and I never will be. I don’t like to play newlypromoted teams in the early games. I prefer to do it in November or December. “They are enthusiastic and they don’t feel the pressure of playing one of the contenders to win the Premier League. “We could have done better in certain moments, but you have to credit the opponent. “When we conceded the goal, the way we reacted were our best moments of the game and their goalkeeper played so well. Nothing will change after three league games. It’s a long road and we have to continue in the same way.” Wolves have two points from their opening three games on their return to the Premier League, but a win will not be far away if they continue to play like this. Manager Nuno Espirito Santo is convinced that the identity they built up in the Championship will stand them in good stead at this level. “All the confidence comes from the way you perform,” he said. “We are improving game-by-game. Butthewayyoutrainisthewayyou have to play. We created a base last season with the way we handled the competition. The belief comes from what the fans see. “We want to build a team that can adapt and we want to create an identity for every Wolves player, every Wolves coach and every Wolves fan.” The home team played with no fearfromtheoffandtheythought they had scored when Raul Jimenez tapped in after Diogo Jota’s effort had been half blocked, but he was ruled offside. As they tried to recover, the visitors went straight to the other end and almost scored themselves, as Sergio Aguero rattled the base of the post. Moments later, Raheem Sterling thought he had broken the deadlock with a sensational 25-yard strike, only for Rui Patricio to get fingertips to it and push it onto the bar. The season is only a fortnight old, but you will be hard pushed to find a better save than that between now and next May. It was that good. To contain City requires a team effort and, when Aguero was set to pull the trigger inside the area, Boly got back to make a decisive tackle. The Champions kept looking for that decisive opening and Patricio denied Aguero after only palming out Benjamin Mendy’s dangerous cross, before Boly produced another goal-saving challenge on Bernardo Silva. The second half quickly picked up the tempo from the first and Helder Costa could have put his team in front, but for a fine save from Ederson. Yet the hosts did go in front from the resulting corner. The ball was worked short to Joao Moutinho and his in-swinging cross was turned in by Boly, although on closer inspection, the final touch came off his arm. City had to respond and David Silva was convinced he was fouled by Matt Doherty in the box. Referee Martin Atkinson was not and Silva was booked for his protests, before Aguero was also appealing for a penalty. Neves shot wide in search of a second, but soon City were level when Laporte bulleted in a header from Ilkay Gundogan’s free-kick for his first goal for the club. Sub Gabriel Jesus was close to putting them in front, but Patricio made an excellent save to keep out his header. But Wolves still believed they could find a winner and Jota volleyed over after a mazy run by the jet-heeled sub Adama Traore. Yet Aguero nearly provided the defining moment with practically the game’s final kick, but his freekick crashed against the bar as City were forced to settle for a point.