Manchester City 0 Wolves 2 : City Get What They Deserve

Manchester City lost at home in the Premier League for the first time in over a year.

Lets start this match review straightaway by making clear that Wolves were good value for their victory. They defended stoically and what impressed me most was how disciplined they were throughout.

Wolves arrived with a game plan, to split our defence, catch us on the break and stifle our creativity. The sad thing was quite how easy we made it for them at times.

Guardiola made a brave team selection starting Joao Cancelo at left back with Kyle Walker on the right. In midfield Ilkay Gundogan tucked in alongside Rodrigo and David Silva was left free range on the left.

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This required Riyad Mahrez and Walker to occupy the right and it caused is some issues from the off. Wolves pressed our full backs, Silva was marooned and each time we gave away the ball with a careless pass, the gaping gaps in the spaces between our players became chasms.

Wolves were unlucky in the first half not to have leapt into the lead. They had three good quality chances but were unable to convert any.

The second half saw a change as Oleks Zinchenko came on for Walker and Cancelo went to the right back slot. City tooles away but were repeatedly undone by poor and careless passing, their few chances in front of goal came to nought as they did not look like scoring.

Wolves kept their nerve as we increased the persistence of our attacks. And it proved to be the right approach as we increasingly relied upon knocking hopeful long balls and crosses into the area for our diminutive attackers to chase.

To be frank we could still be taking corners for a month and would be unlikely to get anything from them.

The disappointing thing is that despite the efforts made by City, the lack of creativity and sparkle meant we had no way to beat a stubborn defence. Our players are great at dribbling and yet again wanted to cross blind from distance.

Wolves caught City twice on the counter attacks and scored from both attempts in the last 10 minutes. Otamendi leapt in both times when he would have been better staying in his feet, but the real damage was done wach time we carelessly gave the ball away in midfield.

Too many players failed to exert any control on the game despite their endeavours. We know our team can respond to set backs and will now have to show it again.

Today we looked in need of a tactical change, and some freshening up. Hopefully both will happen when the Premier League season restarts, but the international break can seem especially long when we actually need a game to shake off this result.

At times the performance echoed the 2015/16 games under Manuel Pellegrini, when the whole team seemed to be marking time. Guardiola needs to get that urgency and intensity back. He has his work cut out.

City did hit the bar before Wolves scored, but it is in such tight margins that games are won and lost. I believe on the whole, teams get what they deserve and today, City did not do enough to warrant a win.

We go again.