Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City have infamously dropped points at the Etihad Stadium to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Two late goals from Adama Traore sealed the three points for Wolves who were on the back-foot for the majority of the game.
Manchester City were slow to get into their stride against Wolverhampton Wanderers following their mid-week home victory against Zagreb in the UEFA Champions League. The Citizens never looked like a team capable of taking the lead on the score-sheet despite dominating possession.
This defeat has left Manchester City eight points behind league leaders, Liverpool after just 8 Premier League matches. This fixture against Wolves also marked the first occasion on which Pep Guardiola’s side have failed to get on the score-sheet this season.
The first half highlighted the poor passing displayed by the Manchester City back-line, which gifted the ball to the opposition on three occasions. All three occasions ended with the intervention of either Fernandinho or Ederson. Something similar followed in the second-half, and Adama Traore was present and responded to the situation with absolute precision.
Here is how the Manchester City players were rated in their defeat to Wolves.
Ederson Moraes – 6/10
A very poor evening for the Brazilian goalie. He was barely called into action but yet ended up conceding two goals.
Kyle Walker – 6/10
The defender seemed a bit off-colour today and was subsequently taken off at the half-time whistle.
Nicolas Otamendi – 5/10
Poor evening from the Argentine defender. Otamendi failed to get a tackle right on countless occasions.
Fernandinho – 7/10
The make-shift centre-back was pivotal in defence. He made two decisive blocks in the first half to keep Wolves off the score-sheet.
Joao Cancelo – 7/10
The Portuguese started at right-back and looked out of sorts on certain occasions. However, he was much more lively in the second half.
Ilkay Gundogan – 7/10
Gundogan had a very dull evening and would have loved to contribute much more to the proceedings of the game. He had a very tame effort on goal from a set-piece in the first half.
Rodrigo Hernandez – 6/10
The Spaniard failed to make the most of the ball against Wolves. Most of his passes were in the backward direction and was unable to make any impact. Rodrigo was the guilty party for the second Wolves goal after he sloppily lost possession while making a run.
David Silva – 7/10
One of the best Manchester City performers on the evening. He came extremely close to scoring from a set-piece in the second half.
Riyad Mahrez – 7/10
The Algerian put in a spirited performance but could not contribute much to the proceedings of the game. His final product seemed to be a bit below par and not enough in the evening to take his team across the line.
Sergio Aguero – 6/10
An extremely poor performance from Sergio Aguero. The Argentine attacker failed to trouble Wolves goalie, Rui Patricio. Plenty more was expected from Aguero for this fixture.
Raheem Sterling – 7/10
One of the very few positives Guardiola can take home from this tie. Sterling kept the Wolves’ defence on their feet for the entire ninety minutes.
Substitutes
Zinchenko was brought on in the second half and did not make much of a difference to the game.
Bernardo Silva – 7/10
The arrival of the Portuguese certainly made things a bit lively in the centre of the park.
Gabriel Jesus – 6/10
Gabriel tried to get things going after coming on during a crucial phase of the game. However, he failed to have any significant contribution to the game.
