Manchester City 5, Wolves 1
Erling Haaland scored 4 goals as Manchester City closed the gap back to Arsenal to 1 point at the top of the Premier League with a big win over Wolves.
Julian Alvarez scored a late goal to underline City’s domination of the game as Hwang Hee-chan’s goal for Wolves made no difference to the final result at the Etihad with the title race against the Gunners set to go to the final few days of the season.
Embed from Getty ImagesPLAYER RATINGS – Manchester City 5, Wolves 1
Ederson: 6. Relatively quiet day but let in a Wolves goal early in the second half after he could only palm away Bellegarde’s whipped in cross and Hwang Hee-chan tucked in the loose ball.
Kyle Walker: 6. Tidy defensively. A great pass to release Kevin De Bruyne in the first half.
Manuel Akanji: 6. Plenty of good defensive actions.
Nathan Ake: 6. Able to attack more after City built a big lead.
Josko Gvardiol: 7. Ably supported the attack wide on the left. Brought down for the penalty and had a great chance to score at the end of the first half. Almost set up Haaland for another goal before blazing over himself.
Rodri: 9. Won the ball and set up the second Erling Haaland goal, had plenty of help in midfield before setting up Julian Alvarez for the icing on the cake.
Mateo Kovacic: 7. Helped Rodri tie up midfield. Great ball retention and recycling and even had a shot saved by Jose Sa.
Kevin De Bruyne: 7. Involved in the second goal.
Bernardo Silva: 7. Sneaked in behind to create chances.
Phil Foden: 8. Buzzed around in midfield – dangerous free kick and a great chance saved by Jose Sa in the second half. Superb first touch, close control and turn of pace to take him away from Wolves players.
Erling Haaland: 10. Back in from the start, tucked away a penalty kick early and could have had two but his header was saved by Jose Sa.Had a penalty claim turned down at the end of the first half before VAR intervened. Scored from the spot kick and then added another after a great pass from Phil Foden in the second half before having another chance tipped over by Jose Sa. Overhead kick didn’t connect cleanly otherwise he’d surely have another goal.
John Stones (on for Nathan Ake, 69): Slotted into defence seamlessly.
Jeremy Doku (on for Phil Foden, 79): No time to mark.
Matheus Nunes (on for De Bruyne, 79): No time to mark.
Jack Grealish (on for Bernardo Silva, 80): No time to mark
Julian Alvarez (on for Erling Haaland, 82): No time to mark
GOALS – Manchester City 5, Wolves 1
Man City 1, Wolves 0: 12. Erling Haaland sent Jose Sa the wrong way as he tucked a penalty into the bottom left corner following a foul on Josko Gvardiol by Rayan Ait-Nouri as he got on the end of a Bernardo Silva cut-back.
Man City 2, Wolves 0: 35. Rodri won the ball, exchanged passes with Kevin De Bruyne before sending in a cross which Erling Haaland powered in from 6 yards out with his head.
Man City 3, Wolves 0: 45+3. Erling Haaland tucked away another penalty in the same corner, evading the reach of Jose Sa, after a VAR check confirmed that he had been brought down by Nelson Semedo after he had gone clean through.
Man City 3, Wolves 1: 53. Jean-Ricner Bellegarde’s cross was whipped in after Josko Gvardiol lost the ball, Ederson palmed it away but only as far as Hwang Hee-chan who reduced the deficit from wide on the left.
Man City 4, Wolves 1: 54. Erling Haaland skipped inside Max Kilman and thrashed home his fourth of the game from the edge of the box after a deep cross from Phil Foden found him free on the right.
Man City 5, Wolves 1: 85. Julian Alvarez was free on the left channel and slotted in under the reach of Jose Sa after Rodri released him with a ball from midfield.
MATCH STATS – Manchester City 5, Wolves 1
Man City: Ederson, Walker (C), Akanji, Ake (Stones 69), Gvardiol, Rodri, Kovacic, De Bruyne (Nunes 80), Bernardo Silva (Grealish 80), Foden (Doku 80), Haaland (Alvarez 82)
Man City Subs not used: Ortega, Dias, Gomez, Lewis
Goals: Haaland 12 pen, 35, 45+3 pen, 54; Alvarez 85
Wolves: Sa, Ait-Nouri, Semedo, Kilman (C), Toti Gomes, Hugo Bueno (Santiago Bueno 71), Joao Gomes, Lemina (Bellegarde 46), Traore, Hwang Hee-chan (Chirewa 87), Cunha (Sarabia 76)
Wolves Subs not used: Bentley, Doherty, Gonzalez, Okoduwa, Fraser
Booked: Lemina 41 (foul on Phil Foden); Semedo 45+3 (foul on Erling Haaland); Traore 64 (foul on Kevin De Bruyne); Joao Gomes 66 (foul on Nathan Ake)
Goal: Hwang Hee-chan 53
Referee: Craig Pawson