Manchester City swept aside ten-man Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-0 at the Etihad Stadium on Monday evening.
City started perfectly as Leroy Sane teed up Gabriel Jesus for a tap-in only ten minutes in. Wolves man Willy Boly was then given his marching orders with less than 20 minutes on the clock as he caught Bernardo Silva with a reckless challenge.
Nuno Espirito Santo’s men continued to be the architects of their own downfall as Ryan Bennett’s clumsy challenge on Raheem Sterling saw a penalty awarded in the 39th minute. Jesus was the man to take responsibility and he coolly passed the ball home to double the lead. Conor Coady scored a late own goal to wrap up the victory for the champions.
City hit the front early on
Pep Guardiola’s men seized the lead with the first real attack on the Wolves goal. Sane was released with a wonderful pass down the left-flank and the German sprinted beyond the visitors’ defence. He then picked out the unmarked Jesus who slid in to open the scoring and add to his four-goal haul against Burton Albion last time out.
Their lead was almost doubled as Bernardo Silva let fly from distance, with his effort taking a deflection off of Ryan Bennett, forcing Rui Patricio to tip the ball over the crossbar.
Red mist descends for Boly
Wolves’ task was then made even harder as Boly crunched into the midfielder, resulting in the awarding of a red card. Jesus almost took advantage of the man advantage almost instantly as he marginally nodded wide from Raheem Sterling’s dangerous cross.
With chances at a premium for the visitors, they really should have equalised before the break on the counter attack. Raul Jimenez fed Jonny Otto, with the latter crossing towards Diogo Jota. However, the Portuguese forward could not stretch quite enough to steer the ball home.
Jesus cool from the spot
The win was all-but secured only minutes before half-time after Sterling was fouled in the penalty area by Bennett. Jesus duly stepped up to the spot and calmly slotted past Patricio to double the lead.
The second-half followed much the same pattern as the first; City dominating possession. However, they were at least kept at arms length by Wolves. Sterling did have an opportunity to get his name on the scoresheet but Patricio was out well to deny the speedy winger. Kyle Walker also tried his luck but could only send his low effort wide of goal.
Kevin De Bruyne, who was introduced mid-way through the second-half, then forced a solid low stop from the Wolves stopper. Nuno’s troops could not keep the Belgian quiet for much longer though. He whipped in an excellent cross into the danger area. Conor Coady attempted to cut it out but a slight glance only served to direct it into the net and wrap up a satisfactory evening for Guardiola’s men.
Final Thoughts
City were by far the better side, even before Boly was given his marching orders. They cut through Wolves at will at were rarely troubled by the visitors’ blunt attack. In all, it was an extremely professional performance from the champions as they cut the gap to Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table to four points.
Match Report
Manchester City: Ederson (7); Danilo (7), Laporte (8), Stones (7), Walker (7); D. Silva (7) (De Bruyne (7), 61′), Fernandinho (7), B. Silva (); Sane (7) (Gundogan (6), 74′), Sterling (7), Jesus (8) (Aguero (N/A), 76′).
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Patricio (7); Jonny (6), Boly (4), Coady (5), Bennett (4), Doherty (5); Neves (6), Dendoncker (5), Moutinho (6) (Gibbs-White (5), 72′); Jimenez (4) (Traore (5), 45′), Jota (5) (Saiss (5), 59′).
Goals: Jesus (10′), Jesus PEN (39′), Coady OG (78′)
Referee: Craig Pawson
Yellow Cards: Fernandinho (14′)
Red Cards: Boly (19′)
- Soccer News Like
- Be the first of your friends!
