Manchester City put in a dominant performance against Wolves away as they won 3-0 to leapfrog Arsenal at the top of the Premier League table.
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Jack Grealish took just 55 seconds to open the scoring as he latched on to a Kevin De Bruyne cross to poke home in the box, before striker Erling Haaland netted his 11th Premier League goal in seven games.
Wolves were reduced to 10 men on 33 minutes as Nathan Collins jumped for a loose ball and caught Grealish with his studs in the midriff, receiving a straight red card. After the break, with midfielder Ruben Neves pushed back into the centre of Wolves’ defence, the game was tighter but City strolled their way to all three points after Phil Foden slotted home from another De Bruyne cross.
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Rapid Reaction
1. Haaland does it again…
It was one of those days where City’s opponents will be happy to keep the score below 10. Wolves were 2-0 down and a man down after just 33 minutes and at that point the home supporters inside Molineux were fearing the worst. Grealish had already opened the scoring after just 55 seconds before Haaland got his customary goal — picking the ball up outside the box, running at Max Kilman and shooting low past Jose Sa. It’s now 14 goals in 10 games for Haaland, who has found the net in each of his last seven appearances.
The Norway international also became the first player in Premier League history to score in their first four away games and his goal-scoring streak shows little sign of stopping. The 22-year-old will probably feel he could have had more, especially after Collins was sent off for an ugly-looking challenge on Grealish, but in the second half Pep Guardiola’s side seemed content with knocking the ball around and running down the clock.
Foden added a third midway through the second half but Wolves would be forgiven for feeling they did well to limit the damage on a day that could have ended in a cricket score.
2. Grealish silences his critics with a goal
It was almost as if Guardiola predicted the future at his weekly news conference on Friday. Asked about Grealish and the criticism the £100 million midfielder has received following his performance against Borussia Dortmund in midweek, the City manager told him not to worry.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said. “In three more days you have another chance to be happy and do what you have to do.” And, what do you know, three days after lasting 58 minutes against Dortmund, Grealish was happy again — taking just 55 seconds to score his first goal of the season to put City 1-0 up.
There were question marks in the build-up to the game about whether Grealish would even start against Wolves, having struggled for form so far this season, but Guardiola chose to keep him in at the expense of Riyad Mahrez and Ilkay Gundogan and it proved the right decision.
Guardiola insisted on Friday that he doesn’t pick Grealish — booed throughout by the home fans because of his links to Midlands rivals Aston Villa — because he racks up big numbers of goals and assists, but after the debate surrounding his place this week, he will be glad to get off the mark.
