Manchester City faced off against Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Molineux Stadium earlier tonight hoping to kick off their Premier League campaign with a win on their travels. Pep Guardiola’s men made a strong start to the game and took the lead in the 20th minute via Kevin De Bruyne’s successful penalty. Phil Foden doubled Man City’s advantage just 12 minutes with a calm finish from close range. The Mancunian giants kept dominating the game and went into the half-time break two goals to the good.
Wolves came back with a vengeance in the second 45 minutes and created a lot of good chances to score. They finally got a goal back via Raul Jimenez’s brilliant header in the 78th minute. However, the side from Manchester hung on and managed to finish the match in style as Gabriel Jesus scored via his deflected shot in injury-time. The game ended with Man City claiming a comfortable 3-1 win on the road.
Let’s take a look at how each Man City player fared during the contest versus Wolves.
GK: Ederson – 6/10
The Brazilian keeper distributed the ball well but did not have a save to make in the game. However, he will be disappointed for conceding a late goal which ruined his chances of a clean sheet.
RB: Kyle Walker – 7.5/10
The English full-back kept a good shape in defence and put in a tireless shift going forward as well.
CB: John Stones – 7/10
He dealt with everything that came his way in the first half but struggled to cope with Daniel Podence’s runs in the second. Stones did enough work defensively to restrict the Wolves to just one goal.
CB: Nathan Ake – 7/10
The ex-Bournemouth centre-back made a solid debut as he won a lot of aerial duels during the game and kept things relatively tidy at the back.
LB: Benjamin Mendy – 6/10
Mendy had a comfortable first half but often got overrun by Adama Traore after the half-time interval. However, he did enough to see out the win after Jimenez’s goal in the final quarter of the game.
CM: Rodri – 7/10
He went close to scoring with a fantastic effort and bossed the game in midfield as he made some important tackles to dominate the opposition at the centre of the park.
CM: Fernandinho – 8/10
The Brazilian midfield ace was full of energy and running in midfield and produced another commanding display for his team tonight.
RM: Phil Foden – 8/10
The English youngster found the back of the net with a composed finish and looked a real threat on the counter. However, he ran out of energy towards the end.
CAM: Kevin De Bruyne – 8.5/10
The Belgian playmaker earned and converted the penalty that gave Man City the all-important lead. He also set-up Foden’s goal with a fine pass and deserved the man of the match award for all his attacking contributions tonight.
LM: Raheem Sterling – 7/10
The English speedster got into some promising positions but was denied a goal by some terrific shot-stopping from Wolves’ Rui Patricio.
ST: Gabriel Jesus – 8/10
The Brazilian striker ran the channels well and showed great hunger to net a goal with a deflected effort right before the referee blew the final whistle.
Substitutes:
LM: Ferran Torres – N/A
The Spanish winger hardly had any time to make an impact.
