Goal machine Jesus shows no mercy for 10-man Wolves
IT IS hard enough playing Manchester City at the Etihad these days without picking up reckless red cards. Step forward Willy Boly.
Well, actually, it was more of a lunge from the Wolves centre back, an ugly follow-through that made contact with Bernardo Silva’s right ankle with sickening force in the 19th minute.
In Boly’s defence, he had only picked up a solitary booking in 22 previous appearances this season. But it was the kind of challenge you simply cannot make in the modern game and hope to stay on the pitch.
Was it any worse than Vincent Kompany’s foul on Mo Salah that was punished by a yellow card when the two title contenders met here at the start of this month?
Liverpool fans will certainly argue that it wasn’t, and they may have a case. But that argument had no place whatsoever in Craig Pawson’s thinking as the referee produced a straight red card.
Even though Boly stayed for a while to plead his case, his manager Nuno Espirito Santo admitted it was the right decision.
There were 70 minutes remaining when the Frenchman was sent off and City were already a goal to the good through Gabriel Jesus. There was only going to be one winner after that.
Credit to Wolves for making a game of it. A team that held City to a draw at Molineux in August — when Boly scored with his hand — and have reserved their best performances this season for the top-six clubs, did what they could to make the best of a bad situation.
But this City team are more than capable of dismantling 11 players, never mind 10, as they have proved emphatically by scoring 21 goals in four home games in the month of January.
Jesus struck again from the penalty spot to claim his seventh goal in three games and take his total for the season to 14 in all competitions — level with Sergio Aguero.
Conor Coady then conceded a late own goal to confirm City’s victory as they cut Liverpool’s lead at the top of the Premier League to four points again.
Having clawed their way back into the title race, it is clear that Pep Guardiola’s side are determined to keep their rivals within reach.
This was not a stirring occasion by any means. Long before the end, fans
were heading for the exits safe in the knowledge that City had the match sewn up.
In fact, one of the highlights for them was Ederson, a spectator for much of the night, coming out of his goal late on to make an interception before exchanging several passes with Fernandinho near the halfway line. Was City’s goalkeeper playing in midfield a little risky even in these circumstances? Guardiola had no complaints afterwards, even though his expression at the time suggested otherwise.
There was little else to displease the City boss. His decision to start with Jesus and keep the returning Aguero on the bench was justified inside the first 10 minutes. The goal owed much to the vision of Aymeric Laporte and his ability to thread a pass behind the Wolves defence for Leroy Sane to chase.
There was no catching the young German, whose square ball invited Jesus to slide in and score from close range.
For all City’s possession, it was the 10 men of Wolves who came closest to scoring next. Raul Jiminez won the ball in midfield and fed Jonny, whose diagonal pass just eluded Diogo Jota’s outstretched boot.
But having recovered from a blow to the head, Jesus all but killed the game off with a second goal six minutes before half-time. Bernardo created the opportunity with an excellent reverse pass for Raheem Sterling and he was upended by an awkward tackle form Ryan Bennett.
Jesus produced a stutter- step run-up before sending Rui Patricio the wrong way from the spot.
It was not going to get any easier for Wolves in the second half, and certainly not when David Silva’s club record 267th Premier League appearance was cut short to allow Kevin De Bruyne to come on with a point to prove. The Belgian was unhappy to be substituted in the 9-0 thrashing of Burton Albion in the Carabao Cup last week and probably just as unimpressed to start on the bench last night.
De Bruyne had already hammered one effort full of venom off target after Bernardo’s cross had been cleared by Coady when he played a key role in City’s third goal in the 78th minute.
Patricio made a smart save at his near post to deny him but it came at the expense of a corner. Ilkay Gundogan played it short to De Bruyne and Romain Saiss’ attempt to clear his inswinging cross only obscured Coady’s view as he turned the ball into his own net.
Not for the first time last night, Wolves had contributed to their own downfall.