Keegan and City put champagne on ice

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 Manchester City

The win for West Bromwich at Coventry means that Manchester City must wait a little longer to be certain of promotion, but when the champagne corks do ultimately pop the symbolic value of yesterday's result at Molineux will be appreciated all the more.

City's return to the Premiership has not looked seriously in doubt since the turn of the year, but their quest to be First Division champions has been challenged strongly by Wolves, who at one stage led the table by eight points. Yesterday, however, they were outplayed from start to finish, so emphatically put in their place that City's claim to be the best side in the division is now beyond dispute.

It could be argued even that the two goals scored by Shaun Wright-Phillips, in the 36th and 80th minutes, did not adequately reflect the difference between the teams. A Wolves front two with 30 goals between them were so effectively blunted by City's defence that goalkeeper Carlo Nash barely had a shot to save.

City now need only a point from their meeting with Barnsley at Maine Road on Saturday to confirm their return to the top flight. Keegan's side are eight points clear of Wolves and West Brom and a superior goal difference means a draw against Steve Parkin's side will be enough to confirm promotion.

Keegan resisted the invitation to speak as if the prize was already in the bag, but in praising the "courage" of his board of directors as well as the character of his players yesterday he did acknowledge that "we might just do it now". The board, he said, had allowed him to assemble a squad that could take the absence of Paulo Wanchope, Eyal Berkovic and Danny Tiatto from yesterday's line-up in their stride. "If we do go up – and it looks like we might – it will be credit to the board because they had the courage to keep players here rather than clear the decks when we were relegated."

He also said he believes his current side to be better equipped for life in the Premiership than Newcastle had been after he steered them to the First Division championship in 1993. "Apart from Peter Beardsley and Barry Venison, we hardly had any Premiership-class players.

"With City you cannot question that Ali Benarbia, Steve Howey and Richard Dunne will be at home in the Premiership, and there are others too. That's why I think this side is better." Indeed, Dunne, Howey and Stuart Pearce – whose retirement looks premature even with his 40th birthday only three weeks away – were outstanding.

Wolves never looked like adding to City's goals against tally, which must be worrying for manager Dave Jones, whose side have taken only six points from the last six matches, allowing West Bromwich to draw level on points. Even before Wright-Phillips had given the visitors the lead with a shot deflected off the legs of Paul Butler – later sent off for a second yellow card – the only threat had been at the Wolves end. Nash only had to deal with a low free kick that Colin Cameron drilled through the City wall before half-time. The City goalkeeper was barely troubled at all thereafter.

Howey had a headed "goal" disallowed for Jon Macken's impeding of Michael Oakes before Wright-Phillips struck the second after Alex Rae, otherwise the home side's best player, had been caught in possession by Darren Huckerby.

Wolverhampton Wanderers (4-4-2): Oakes; Halle, Butler, Lescott, Camara; Newton, Rae, Cameron, Cooper (Ndah, 31); Sturridge, Blake (Miller, 85). Substitutes not used: Andrews, Laursen, Murray (gk).

Manchester City (3-5-2): Nash; Dunne, Howey, Pearce; Sun Jihai, Wright-Phillips, Benarbia, Horlock, Jensen; Macken, Huckerby. Substitutes not used: Royce (gk), Mettomo, Ritchie, Wiekens, Goater.

Referee: G Barber (Tring).