- Manchester City lost 2-1 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, ending their perfect start to the 2017 Premier League campaign.
- Prior to Julian Alvarez’s superb free kick, the home team had taken the lead thanks to an own goal by Ruben Dias.
- Wolves regained the lead through Hwang Hee-chan to earn a crucial three points.
Manchester City lost 2-1 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux, ending their perfect start to the 2017 Premier League campaign.
Prior to Julian Alvarez’s superb free kick just before the 60-minute mark, the home team had taken the lead thanks to an own goal by Ruben Dias in the 13th minute.
However, Wolves regained the lead through Hwang Hee-chan in the 66th minute, and the home team held off some late pressure to earn a crucial three points.
How the game unfolded
Wolves beat Manchester City after Hwang Hee-chan’s winner. Photo/Eurosport
In the 13th minute of the game, Pedro Neto’s cross was deflected into his own net by Manchester City defender Dias, giving Wolves the lead.
As the first period went on, the visitors, as was to be anticipated, controlled the ball more and more, but they were having trouble establishing clean opportunities at Molineux.
At halftime, Man City had most of the ball and had taken 13 shots, but only two had been on goal. Wolves defender Craig Dawson was enjoying his physical duel with Erling Haaland.
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Alvarez received the first opportunity for the away team in the second half, but the Argentina international was only able to direct his shot into the body of the ready Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa.
Alvarez, though, was unstoppable and managed to tie the game in the 58th minute with a fantastic free kick that struck the top corner.
As Man City searched for their second goal of the game at Molineux, Phil Foden had one cleared off the line by Dawson.
However, Wolves were able to take the lead again in the 66th minute when Hwang converted a close-range goal following sloppy defending from the champions.
As the game approached the end of regular time, Man City continued to pass and probe, but Wolves defended superbly, with Dawson outstanding in the center, and it finally turned out to be a comfortable finale for the home side, who picked up only their second league win of the season.
Wolves ‘deserved’ the win
Pep Guardiola was serving a touchline ban during the game at Wolves. Photo/Yahoo News UK
As Manchester City‘s unbeaten start to the new season came to an end at Molineux, Pep Guardiola acknowledged that Wolves ‘earned’ their 2-1 victory.
“Wolves earned it; congratulations. They played extremely well, and we had opportunities but failed to handle transitions.” Guardiola told reporters.
The loss was City’s second straight after they were eliminated from the Carabao Cup against Newcastle in midweek. The back-to-back defeats didn’t worry Guardiola, who was serving a touchline suspension, but he acknowledged City needed to improve before their Champions League trip to RB Leipzig on Wednesday.
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