Pep Guardiola has popped up. Here’s what he had to say:
The result is what it is. Playing with 10 is difficult but against this side especially. [My team] fought incredibly. The goals couldn’t be avoided. Sometimes it’s fatigue. They’re tired … I have no regrets. [The gap at the top] is big. We cannot think about that [the title race].
I’m not sure Pep Guardiola’s going to pop up anytime soon. I’m guessing his mood is darker than the skies above Molineux. Anyway, Paul Doyle’s match report has arrived. Have a read. What a thrilling night’s football. Thanks for your emails and tweets. Bye!
Here’s the beaming Wolves manager Nuno Espírito Santo:
It’s a good night to win and perform like this. It was a fantastic game of football. Everything changed with City down to 10 men. I told my players to keep doing the same things [after City’s goal] but we conceded a second goal that made it very hard but it was a fantastic reaction. [Traore] had to come inside [to have an impact]. He was not getting the ball out wide. When he is playing inside everything is tight but it was a fantastic goal [to get us back into the game]. I’m always positive.
As well as Wolves played, City ultimately paid the price for Ederson’s sending off in the first half. Wolves are a difficult team to face with 11 men but with 10 men for 79 minutes, there was always going to be a tired error in that City defence. Wolves got better as the game wore on. Traore was immense and Jimenez was so good in all aspects of his game. His hold up play and clever touches held Wolves’ play together. Wolves face Liverpool at Anfield next. One imagines this game will have taken too much out of them to cause another shock but you never know. With the Champions League places only two points away they will find energy from somewhere.
Adama Traore, who really is a thorn in City’s side, speaks:
This team is amazing. We fight till the end. Whatever the occasion, whatever the difficulty. Every one of us has been working so hard and believing.
So Manchester City are 14 points behind Liverpool, who have a game in hand. Leicester remain second by a point with City in third. Molineux is a madhouse.
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Full-time: Wolves 3-2 Manchester City
There are huge cheers in Molineux (and Merseyside) as the final whistle blows. What a match!
90+3 min: Jimenez is substituted as Wolves look to see out the clock. There are olés from the Wolves fans as their players keep possession. Steady now …
90+2 min: Sterling curls a delicious effort over the wall but the ball clips the bar.
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90 min: There’ll be four minutes for City to try and salvage a point from this. Traore barges into Sterling and gives away a free-kick on the edge of the box. It’s 20 yards out in a central position. Where’s De Bruyne when you need him? It looks like Sterling will hit it …
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Goal! Wolves 3-2 Manchester City (Doherty 89)
They’ve only gone and done it! Doherty plays a one-two with Jimenez on the edge of the box. Otamendi lunges in and misses and Doherty passes the ball into teh far corner with great composure. Is that City’s title challenge well and truly knacked?
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88 min: Otamendi goes down after an innocuous challenge. I imagine he’s trying to take the wind out of Wolves’ sails.
86 min: “Traore is captivating to watch. A dazzling array of step overs, shimmies and dummies before laying off a simple five-yard pass. Imagine being out for a meal and asking him to pass the salt - 15 minutes later you’re still waiting as he somersaults round the restaurant with the cellar between his bum cheeks,” writes Stephen Carr (probably before Traore played a simple cross in for Jimenez’s goal). I get where you’re coming from though Stephen. It’s like he has to do a moonwalk before everything else he does.
85 min: At least Otamendi and Bravo can say it wasn’t them.
84 min: The question now is will Wolves go for the winner? Traore certainly wants to. He’s pleading for the ball whenever his teammates get it.
Goal! Wolves 2-2 Manchester City (Jimenez 82)
Oh Mendy! The full-back tries to shield the ball as it is drifting out of play but Traore nudges into him and scoops the ball from beneath his legs before zipping a low cross into the six-yard box for Jimenez to tap home. Guardiola will be furious with Mendy. He should have cleared it.
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80 min: Neto is on in place of Jota, who has worked himself into the ground. He’s quickly into the action, beating Walker and driving a low cross in to the near post, where City clear. If City hang on here it will be some win. It’s been a gritty performance of 80% grit and 20% sheen.
78 min: Traore slaloms his way past Bernardo Silva and bursts towards the City box but Doherty mis-controls as Traore finds him coming up in support to his right. It’s like Traore is running on a different operating system to his teammates. He’s too quick for them.
77 min: It’s another wonderful cross into the six-yard box that Saiss gets to again, flicking the ball towards Doherty on the back post … but a touch from Rodri on to Doherty’s head prevents the Wolves defender from nodding it into the gaping goal. That was fine defending by the City midfielder.
76 min: Sterling drags Jota to the floor over near the corner flag. Moutinho is set to deliver another dangerous cross.
75 min: City have had 39% possession, which is the lowest they have ever had under Guardiola in any match. I’d argue that 39% with 10 men is pretty decent. Jota drills a low cross in at the near post. City clear but back Wolves come …
73 min: Wolves go so close! Moutinho whips in a delicious ball that Saiss flicks across goal and past the far post by an inch. Bravo was rooted to his line. Wolves are building up the pressure.
71 min: City are defending admirably. Wolves’ only real outlet is Traore. He’s not a bad outlet, mind. He’s just whipped in another cross but it’s too deep for Jimenez. Walker gives a free-kick away on the left. It’s a decent position five yards in from the corner flag. Jonny is taken off and Vinagre is on.
69 min: Saiss has a pop at goal from distance and then Traore dances inside his marker and makes room for a shot at goal with his left foot that he buries into Bravo’s belly.
68 min: City have used all their substitutes. Kyle Walker’s bum is probably getting twitchy. He’ll be praying that Bravo behaves himself.
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67 min: And that’s De Bruyne’s last action of the match. Gundogan replaces him. De Bruyne looks miffed and Guardiola looks to be explaining that they have another match in about seven minutes.
66 min: De Bruyne fakes to do a dragback and then knocks the ball out his feet to make the space to shoot. But, and you’ll never believe this, he drags his shot wide like any ordinary Joe might.
64 min: Traore has got his dancing shoes on now. He shimmies past two City players and dinks a cross into the box … but City clear.
63 min: Dendocker fires a shot at goal from 25 yards. It bounces in front of Bravo but the goalkeeper gets two solid gloves on it and keeps hold.
62 min: Beep! Beep! Beep! That’s the sound of City’s defence reversing. Wolves are pop, pop, popping passes around the edge of City’s area. They work the ball out to Traore, who delivers a fine cross to Jimenez at the back post but after the striker brings the ball down with a feather-toed touch, his shot is blocked
60 min: Otamendi swipes at Jota and sends him into the air near the touchline. It’s a clear foul and a booking to boot. Moutinho whips in the free-kick but this time Fernandinho heads clear.
59 min: Moutinho whips it in and Otamendi heads into the air for Bravo to collect. De Bruyne wants an early throw from Bravo so City can break but the goalkeeper’s having none of it.
58 min: Wolves win a free-kick wide on the left. It’s a lovely angle to curl one in from.
56 min: A moment before that goal, Jimenez fired wide by a couple of inches. It’s wide open now. We’ll be seeing more goals. I’m sure of that.
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Goal! Wolves 1-2 Manchester City (Traore 54)
Sterling is loose in possession. Traore picks the ball up just outside the box and drives at goal before hammering home across Bravo and into the far corner. That was an unerring finish. Game on!
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52 min: Jota goes down after a coming together with Walker in the box. Jonny hits the deck a moment later after feeling a push from Rodri. There’s a VAR check on both but “No Penalty” is the decision. I think VAR is right but who knows these days.
Goal! Wolves 0-2 Manchester City (Sterling 50)
What a goal this is! Rodri drops deep to collect the ball in midfield. He turns and slides the ball towards De Bruyne, who slices the Wolves defence open with a first-time pass behind Dendoncker to Sterling. The forwards scurries into the box and lifts the ball over Rui Patricio with nonchalant ease. Fantastic!
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49 min: City enjoy a spell of possession before Otamendi gifts the ball back to Wolves with an errant punt forwards.
47 min: Jota stabs over the bar after Jimenez scooped a delightful ball over the defence and into the little forward’s path. He had to hit it on the half-volley so it wasn’t easy but he was only 15 yards out and Bravo was beaten if he’d controlled it. What a chance!
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It's the second half!
45 min: The 18-year-old defender Eric Garcia is on for Riyad Mahrez. This could be a slog of a second half for City, who will likely play 5-3-1 now.
Justin Kavanagh is back for more! “Scrap the Christmas Carol narrative, Gregg. What with Pep’s team now getting a taste of its own weekly medicine (having to defend for 90 minutes), this has turned into A Tale of Two Cities. And we’ll see just how good the other one is now.” To be fair to them, they have been very solid but I fancy there will be an Oh Claudio! or Oh Nicolas! moment before the game is done.
Half-time hot takes
“Earlier this season Jefferson Lerma stepped on David Silva’s foot in the penalty area and VAR looked at it and decided it wasn’t a penalty. Great job all around!” writes JR in Illinois. “But really, you’ve got to laugh at the way VAR has been rolled out. I really shouldn’t be surprised considering the own goal of Brexit that y’all have inflicted on yourselves but yet somehow still am. (And I also understand that no one from the US should be laughing at anyone else considering what we’ve got cooking over here).”
“When Pep said earlier today that replacing Aguero would be a tough task, I think nobody would have put a penny on Claudio Bravo being the man,” honks Admir Pajic.
“What a thankless task you have, in simply trying to describe a football game that many of your readers don’t have the benefit of watching,” writes Charles Robinson. “I’m not sure if Peter Adams had his tongue in his cheek earlier, but was Ederson’s contact on Jota minimal? Yes, but he clipped his shoulder, and it was a sending off. Was the contact on Mahrez from Dendonker minimal? Yes, but he trod on his foot, so it was a penalty. Should the penalty have been retaken? Yes, because two Wolves players were in the box when Sterling took it. Was the decision, as you describe it, ‘overly fussy’? Perhaps, but it was still correct. All the key decisions from VAR have so far been spot on, and you’ve called it right.” I think Peter’s tongue was firmly in cheek, earlier, Charles.
“Since encroachment is a technical offence and doesn’t really put off the taker, it seems harsh to award another penalty. Maybe an indirect free kick from where the defender makes the clearance would be fairer,” writes Tom in New Zealand.
Half-time: Wolves 0-1 Manchester City
Well, that was eventful. City have defended with Benítez-like efficiency since being reduced to 10 men. I’ll be back with your half-time missives when I’ve made a cuppa.
45+7 min: City play the free-kick deep. Wolves win the ball back but play a long ball into the corner that runs out of play – and that should be that for this half.
45+6 min: Moutinho slides in and brings Sterling down and City should get the chance to survive until half-time.
45+4 min: Traore scuffs a shot wide from the edge of the area and then Jota tries to dribble through the City defence but is stopped by Otamendi. City are clinging on for half-time. They’re just hoofing it clear when they regain possession. Back come Wolves …
45+2 min: Bernardo chests the ball and is penalised for handball out by the touchline on the right. That was never handball. What a ridiculous decision! Moutinho floats the free-kick in and City clear. The ball is knocked back in towards Coady on the back post but he can’t stretch to reach it.
45 min: Neves bangs a shot at goal from somewhere near Birmingham and Bravo saves easily. That was a waste. It’s like he hit that out of anger at everything that has gone before it in this evening’s game. There’ll be seven minutes of injury/VAR time. Yikes!
44 min: Moutinho curls a delicious ball forwards to Jimenez’s feet. The striker takes a touch and creates space for a curler, but his shot doesn’t have any venom in it and floats into Bravo’s grateful gloves.
43 min: Jonny dinks a cross in towards Jimenez from the left, but Bravo collects comfortably.
42 min: “On Wolves, every time the commentator says ‘Here’s Jonny’ I chuckle to myself, especially when you consider the dark mood at Molineux at the moment.” Ciaran Boland lightens the mood.
40 min: Wolves are increasing the tempo and making it very difficult for City to keep possession. Even De Bruyne struggled to find his way out of a tight spot then. Doherty hooks a cross into the box, it’s hoofed into the air by Otamendi and then is scrambled away. Jonny curls a cross in from the left that Traore volleys into a City defender and then City clear. Back come Wolves, though. They’re building up a head of steam …
37 min: Wolves have appeared a little shellshocked since the penalty incident. They haven’t been able to get going. City’s shape has been very good, mind. I think Wolves’ best chance of getting back in this game will be committing to a high press. There’s a mistake in Otamendi and Bravo.
35 min: “So just to be sure Gregg; it was minimal contact on Jota and a definite red. It was minimal contact on Mahrez and it’s harsh penalty. Does that Wolves shirt you got for Christmas fit well?” scolds Peter Adams. It’s a bit small Peter. I might have to take it back. I think the difference is that Dendoncker appeared to be running in step with Mahrez and not deliberately challenging him. But I do understand why it was given. Had his heel not been clipped he wouldn’t have fallen over.
32 min: Bravo has just had a wobble. Jimenez put the press on the substitute goalkeeper, who walloped the ball out of play. There’s also been confirmation that a drinks container was thrown at Sterling after the City forward scored.
30 min: Boos are cascading down from the Molineux stands. It’s a moody atmosphere now. One thing I can say is that City’s approach after going a man down was laudable. They continued to probe patiently and were rewarded for sticking to their gameplan. It’s up to Wolves to play with greater intensity now. They will have to wear City down.
28 min: Well, what an odd 10 minutes that was. There were so many delays but ultimately if you look back at each incident VAR probably got them right, even if the awarding of the penalty and the demand for it to be retaken appeared overly fussy.
Goal! Wolves 0-1 Manchester City (Sterling 26)
Well this is incredible. Rui Patricio goes the same way again and saves … but this time the ball lands back at Sterling’s feet and the City forward taps home. The Wolves fans are hopping mad and a supporter appears to have thrown something on to the pitch.
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Penalty saved but then it needs to be retaken!
23 min: Rui Patricio dives low to his right and saves it from Sterling. But hang on. It’s going to retaken. There was some encroachment it seems.
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Penalty to Manchester City!
22 min: After a number of checks it is given! I can understand why but it seems harsh. Sterling will take it.
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20 min: City appeal for a penalty as Mahrez goes down in the box. Atkinson waves it away. It looked like Mahrez threw himself down after a Dendoncker’s arm leant on his shoulder but from another angle it appears that Mahrez’s heel was clipped accidentally. I don’t think it’s a penalty but VAR are checking it.
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19 min: Jimenez flicks the corner on at the near post, Doherty flicks the ball at goal from a tight angle but Bravo collects comfortably.
17 min: It looks like Sterling has gone up front on his own in a 4-1-3-1 formation. Although that formation could change 99 times before the game is done. Wolves win a corner after Traore wallops a cross against Mendy.
15 min: Moutinho knocks a tame free-kick straight into Bravo’s midriff. We’ll see how good City are in possession now they are down to 10 men.
13 min: Ederson trudges off while we’re waiting for Bravo to get changed. It’s Aguero who is sacrificed after only 13 minutes. Bravo will face a free-kick from 25 yards out on the left side of the box when he comes on. Kyle Walker would definitely save it.
Red card: Ederson sent off!
11 min: My oh my! Coady pings a long ball to Jota, catching City napping after the restart. Ederson comes rushing out of his box and after Jota knocks the ball over the City keeper, Ederson collides with him. It was a definite red.
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8 min: Mendy and Dendoncker have clashed heads. I think both should be OK but they’re getting checked over as you can’t be too careful. It came after Traore was tracked by Sterling, who nudged the Wolves winger over deep in the City half. Nuno wanted a foul and after looking at a replay it looked like Wolves deserved one.
6 min: Traore stretches his legs for the first time. It came after Coady pinged a long ball forwards that City only half cleared. Jimenez found Traore to the right of him. The winger found the byline but just overran the ball by a few inches. Goal-kick. It’s all very tame.
4 min: The game has very quickly settled into a Manchester City exhibition in sterile possession. But after a couple of minutes Otamendi wallops the ball out of play under pressure to huge cheers from the home fans.
3 min: Justin Kavanagh is not a fan of 2019-20 Pep: “What with the sarcastically exaggerated handshakes to officials, and now the faux letters to the League in thanks for Yuletide fixture congestion, Pep Guardiola is becoming a bit of a footballing Ebenezer Scrooge. He needs a visit from Don Revie (the ghost of fixture pile-ups past) or even Jürgen Klopp (pile-ups present…and yet they’re still winning) to get over himself. Otherwise I foresee his ghost of Christmas future as being the next Mourhino (and one of them is enough for any narrative).”
Peep!
1 min: Manchester City get the game under way. They’re shooting from left to right on my TV, so make a picture of that in your heads. Sterling immediately tries to dribble his way into a shooting position on the left corner of the 18-yard box, but Doherty gets an important foot in the way and halts his progress. That’s a sharp start by City.
Here come the teams. Wolves, in black tracksuit tops covering their glorious gold shirts, are led out by the underrated Conor Coady. Manchester City, in 1980s-style light blue/dark blue tops over their famous sky blue shirts, are marched out on to the turf by captain Fernandinho. There’s a cracking atmosphere. The home fans are up for this. So am I!
It’s almost time for kick-off and it’s like middle earth at Molineux, where the air is dripping with mist. It’s a proper football night.
David Wall preferred the good old days of, um, 2016: “I know it sounds a bit curmudgeonly but am I the only person who feels something is missing from the past two and a half seasons where you effectively have to win every game in order to win the title? True, City and Liverpool hitting such prolonged periods of excellence is admirable, but are either side one that supporters will really love in future? It used to be the case that you could lose a number of games in a season but, if you put together a run of 10-12 wins from around March you’d be in with a good chance of the title. It meant that in the first half of the season you could relax a bit when watching matches, just enjoy them, because you knew that the odd dropped points could be caught up later on. But now it’s tension from the very first game, with any draw becoming a major set-back, and any defeat almost a crisis. I suppose Liverpool supporters won’t complain when they get the title at the end of the season, but they were more fun to watch when they had a little inconsistency, and a poor performance might not just end in a win nonetheless.”
Nuno speaks: “Manchester City are an outstanding team with outstanding players. Let’s not forget that we have to play. We have to play. They are a very good team and they will test us.” It doesn’t sound like Wolves are going to sit back does it? This could be very entertaining.
I’m watching highlights of Kevin De Bruyne. The incredible thing about him is that whenever he shoots, if he misses, it is only by inches. You never see him sky a shot or wildly overhit a pass. Everything is measured. If he’s off target the likelihood is that one of his shots or passes will still cause the opposition an awful lot of trouble.
Pep Guardiola speaks: “Wolves’ consistency for two seasons is incredible,” he says. Of trying to stop Adama Traore he has this to say: “It’s impossible. You need a motorcycle. He has a pace that no other player in the world has.” On the subject of fast-tracking Aguero back into the starting lineup after injury, he says he didn’t have a choice as to whether he should play him or not. “Jesus was sick.”
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Adama Traore’s great fun isn’t he? He plays football at a million miles an hour. Every dribble is like a thrash-metal solo.
There’s a nice interview with Nuno playing on Amazon at the moment. He credits his managerial nous to being a reserve goalkeeper for such a long time. He says he learned “bench experience” sat on the sidelines watching managers make mistakes. Carlo Nash should be a modern-day Shankly if this is true.
In case you’re wondering why Gabriel Jesus is missing from City’s squad, he’s ill. That’s why you should get your winter flu jab, folks!
Harry Redknapp believes Liverpool ended City’s title hopes last night. Is that true? It’s staggering to even be talking about the title race being over before we’ve entered the new year. If there’s one team that can put a run of wins together long enough to close the gap and make it interesting it’s City. But Liverpool have taken 79 points from a possible 81 going back to last season. That’s ludicrous really.
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Is Guardiola taking a risk starting Agüero tonight? As good as he is, he’s been out for the best part of five weeks. He does tend to pick up recurring injuries. Mind you, if he’s only 90% fit he will still be lethal given half a chance.
Here’s a reminder of what happened at the Etihad in October. City fans, you might want to watch highlights of your club’s greatest moment instead.
Looking back at our win over this evening’s opponents earlier this season.
— Wolves (@Wolves) December 27, 2019
What a day 😍 pic.twitter.com/u1HKZQDF41
Team news
Wolves: Rui Patricio, Dendoncker, Coady, Saiss, Doherty, Neves, Joao Moutinho, Jonny, Traore, Jimenez, Jota. Subs: Vallejo, Bennett, Pedro Neto, Cutrone, Ruddy, Ruben Vinagre, Kilman.
Man City: Ederson, Walker, Fernandinho, Otamendi, Mendy, De Bruyne, Rodri, Bernardo Silva, Mahrez, Aguero, Sterling. Subs: Bravo, Gundogan, Zinchenko, Jose Angelino, Joao Cancelo, Foden, Garcia.
Referee: Martin Atkinson (W Yorkshire)
Predicting lineups at this stage of the season can be tricky but at least the two players I mentioned in my preamble are starting. I’ll take that. They are two very strong starting XIs.
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Preamble
Hello! The feast of festive football continues, readers – and this evening’s game could be a Christmas cracker. Wolves’s pace on the counterattack led to a surprise 2-0 win at the Etihad in October as City’s defence produced a showreel of errors and uncertainty whenever the visiting team attacked. Adama Traoré scored both of Wolves’ goals and since then he has had a target on his back, with teams using rotational filth to limit the winger’s impact. Will City follow suit? They’re not shy of a tactical foul or two are they?
Manchester City can’t afford to drop any more points if they are to have any hope of reeling in Liverpool but with Kevin De Bruyne starting to hit top gear City are likely to improve in the second half of the season. If he can bring his brand of outrageous footballing geometry to the table this evening, one expects Wolves will ship a goal or two. Despite City playing some exquisite football as they beat Leicester last time out, Pep Guardiola has been in a bit of a grump in the buildup to this game. “I wrote a letter to the Premier League to say thank you [for the fixture congestion],” he deadpanned. “We are going to the fridge after Wolves to get ready for Sheffield United.”
City play two games in less than 48 hours but Wolves have it even worse. They play Liverpool – at Anfield – only 44 hours and 45 minutes after the final whistle blows this evening. That may be one reason Pep is miffed. His side will face a fresher Wolves team and Nuno Espírito Santo might fancy picking up points in this match more than the next one – which could make for some wild entertainment.
Kick-off: 7.45pm GMT.
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