Three Takeaways: Manchester City defeat Wolves 3-1

Manchester City weathered the storm of a difficult second half to pull out a 3-1 win against Wolves.

Manchester City navigated a tricky opening Premier League fixture to secure their first victory of the new season against Wolves. City had lost both league matches last year to the home side, who were the better team in the second half after offering very little to open the game.

Goals from Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden, and Gabriel Jesus led City to a big result against one of the league’s trickiest oppositions. With three points in the bag, City will now need to keep consistency in their results as they chase Liverpool in an effort to regain the Premier League title.

1. The Mark of Champions

While the main story of last season for many regarding Manchester City was defensive issues, I saw major consistency problems in terms of results that were not characteristic of the previous two title-winning teams. A year ago, nearly every poor City performance was punished with dropped points. It felt heading into every match that City would absolutely smash their opposition 5-0 or lose, with nothing coming in between.

While it’s only a sample size of one game, City were far from the better side in the second half, and Wolves were probably worthy of at least a point had their finishing been better. Nevertheless, City pulled a tough match out of the fire with three points despite an inconsistent performance, something that must be done if they are to win the title this season. Liverpool have mastered this art on a seemingly week-in, week-out basis, and City will need to do the same if they are to truly present a challenge. It is impossible to simply dominate 38 games every season; to win this league, games must be won without a brilliant performance. That happened today, and we shall see if it will continue.

2. Turning Back the Clock

Fernandinho played his first game in midfield for some time today due to a litany of injuries and COVID-19 cases and was thoroughly impressive. At times, his control of midfield with Rodri looked absolutely impeccable, and something we could see more of going forward if Pep Guardiola looks to add a bit more stability this season.

City have infamously tried the two-man midfield pivot in big games in the past, most recently with Rodri and İlkay Gündoğan, which has led to poor results. However, if Fernandinho can recapture any of his 2017-18 form as he did today over a consistent stretch, he should shoot well past Gündoğan in the pecking order and make Guardiola think about this setup moving forward.

3. City still Need a Defender

It was good to see John Stones back in the team alongside debutant Nathan Aké, but in reality, both appear to be in competition with each other to regularly partner Aymeric Laporte. While both were decent today, I am still not convinced that this City backline is capable of winning the title given the strength of their competition. The reality remains that City need to get a deal done for a defender before an ever-approaching transfer deadline and work him into an already-started Premier League season. This is far from an ideal situation, but in this case, late is significantly better than never.

Three Takeaways: Manchester City defeat Wolves 3-1

By J.C. Gonzalez | Sep 21, 2020

Manchester City weathered the storm of a difficult second half to pull out a 3-1 win against Wolves.

1. The Mark of Champions

2. Turning Back the Clock

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3. City still Need a Defender