Wolves vs Man City LIVE: Premier League result and reaction as John Stones nets winner in late drama
Wolves 1-2 Man City: Pep Guardiola’s side move to the top of the table with stoppage time goal
Manchester City were rescued by John Stones whose late winner secured a 2-1 win on their travels to Wolves in the Premier League.
City dominated possession and looked to push the struggling Midlands side deep into their own half. From the start, Pep Guardiola’s team looked to take control, but they were hit on the break and surprisingly went behind in the seventh minute.
Huge Bueno switched the ball out to the right wing where Nelson Semedo brought it under control and swept up the pitch. He curled a lovely pass into the far side of the box and Jorgen Strand Larson was waiting for a tap-in.
Wolves then looked to dig in and limit the space for City’s free flowing forwards. They were limited to shots from range despite 218 touches in Wolves final third in the first half alone. One of those shots got through, Josko Gvardiol getting forward and lacing a curling right foot finish into the far top corner.
City threw attacking wave after attacking wave at the Wolves defence, boosted by second half substitutes Phil Foden and Jack Grealish but there was no way through until Stones met Foden’s corner kick and nodded home to win the defending champions all three points.
Relive updates from the Premier League clash below as Wolves host Man City:
Wolves 0-0 Man City
3 mins
Better from both sides as they each string a few passes together. Wolves try to break forward but Gvardiol is equal to Semedo in the foot race.
Wolves 0-0 Man City
1 min
End-to-end at the beginning, though not in term of attacking. Both sides have lumped the ball up the field a couple of times each as they look to settle.
KICK-OFF! Wolves 0-0 Man City
KICK-OFF!
The home side get us underway in the Midlands.
Wolves vs Man City
The two sides have emerged from the tunnel at the Molineux, so we’re moments from kick-off.
How to watch Wolves v Man City
A reminder that this afternoon’s match will be live on Sky Sports Main Event, Sky Sports Premier League and Sky Sports Ultra HDR. Coverage started at 1pm BST.
Subscribers will also be able to watch on a live stream online via the Sky Go app.
How the league table looks
There wasn’t a lot of movement at the very top of the Premier League yesterday, with Arsenal’s 2-0 loss to Bournemouth meaning they missed a chance to go top of the table. They remain in third, on 17 points, level with City and one point behind Liverpool, who play Chelsea later today. Both sides have a game in hand over the Gunners though.
Villa’s win over Fulham moved them into fourth, level on points with Arsenal, while Brighton’s 1-0 win away at Newcastle moved them into fifth, on 15 points.
Chelsea sit in sixth ahead of their game against Liverpool, having won 14 points from seven games. Spurs’ win yesterday took them into seventh, on 13 points, while Newcastle sit a place behind on 12 points.
Manchester United eased some of the pressure on Erik ten Hag with a 2-1 win over Brentford, though they still sit 11th after eight games played, with just 11 points.
Match facts
Manchester City have won seven of their last eight Premier League meetings with Wolves, scoring 25 goals across these games.
City are unbeaten in 30 Premier League games, winning 24 and drawing six. This is the joint-longest run in their league history (also 30 from April 2017 to January 2018). In English top-flight history, there have only been six occasions when a side has gone more than 30 matches without losing, the most recent being Liverpool’s run of 44 games from January 2019 to February 2020.
City have fallen behind in four of their last six Premier League games, although they have recovered a league-high 10 points from losing positions in the competition this term. They have won nine of the last 11 league games in which they have trailed (D2)
Erling Haaland has scored eight goals in four Premier League appearances against Wolves – he averages a goal once every 40 minutes against them. However, only one of these eight goals has come at Molineux.
Match facts
Wolves won this fixture 2-1 last season, though they haven’t won consecutive home league meetings with Manchester City since a run of three between 1982 and 1996.
Wolves have so far failed to win any of their opening seven games of a league season for the first time since 2004/05, when the club was in the Championship. Only in three previous campaigns have they had a longer winless run from the start of a league season: 1922/23 (8), 1926/27 (10), and 1983/84 (14).
Wolves are the only side to lose all of their home games in the Premier League this season. Never before in their league history have they lost their opening four home games of a campaign.
Matheus Cunha has lost each of the last four Premier League games in which he has scored, including all three this season.
What the managers are saying
Wolves manager Gary O’Neil says that he has “100 per cent faith in myself and the playing group to show everyone we can compete at the level”.
“[i’m] really confident and really comfortable I can help the group in this moment and turn things around,” he added.
“We sit here seven games in with one point. If you don’t look into the depths of how and why it looks like a disaster.
“But, if you do take the time to look into the situation and the fixtures you will easily see there is enough there to have a real clear view we can turn this around.”
“The Brentford game was a shock. If we’re not at it, it’s not just the top teams that will beat you. It can’t happen. We conceded some goals that were almost unexplainable.”
On the challenge facing his side today, he said: “The key [last season] was discipline, counter-attacking and fight. It’s a tough game I’m looking forward to. We have to perform in a way to unite the fans.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments