Wolves 0 Manchester City 4 (Haaland 34 & 61, Reijnders 37, Cherki 81)
Manchester City scored twice in each half to ensure Wolves were beaten at Molineux on day one of the new Premier League season.
Wolves had looked solid until Erling Haaland tapped in the first and City then punished a defensive mistake when Tijjani Reijnders clinically made it two. Jorgen Strand Larsen had his chances to reduce the deficit before Haaland added his second, and Rayan Cherki made it four late on.
However, the tributes to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva before the game ensured it was an emotional evening for Wolves. The Old Gold legend and his brother tragically passed away last month and the Molineux tributes, including an Old Gold Pack tifo, were a fitting way to honour their memory.
On the pitch, Wolves had looked solid for the opening 20 minutes of the season, with Vitor Pereira trusting his players from last season in attacking positions, and it worked initially. When City’s first opening arrived, when Bernardo Silva got the wrong side of Matt Doherty and crossed for Haaland, the Norwegian directed his header over the bar on the stretch.
The energy of Joao Gomes in the midfield was giving Wolves both energy and confidence, and the Old Gold had the ball in the net on 26 minutes, only for the offside flag to deny them. Matt Doherty’s cross was pinpoint and Marshall Munetsi’s downward header clinical, but he’d strayed beyond the last defender.
On one occasion Gomes won the ball high up the field, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde got his shot away and it deflected into the path of Munetsi, who was denied by the onrushing James Trafford, before the flag was raised once more.
That period of hope quickly evaporated, however. Reijnders carried City forward and clipped a ball over the head of Toti, and Rico Lewis was in down the right. He got to the byline and cut across for Haaland to tap into an open net for 1-0.
Moments later the Old Gold caused their own problems, as Emmanuel Agbadou’s poor pass to Andre left Wolves in trouble. Oscar Bobb, quick as a flash, nicked in and played in Reijnders who continent guided the ball across goal and beyond the side of Jose Sa to put City into a strong lead.
Half-time | Wolves 0-2 Man City
Wolves knew a goal quickly after the break could have change the complexion of the game, and they had their chance. Ki-Jana Hoever galloped down the right and picked out Jorgen Strand Larsen, who opened his body up and side footed wide with his left foot, into the side netting.
Strand Larsen did have another chance at 2-0, which Trafford tipped over. However, with City’s next attack, they cut Wolves open. Reijnders and Bobb combined, with the latter laying off for Haaland, who stroked into the far corner to make it three.
Strand Larsen tested Trafford again with 15 minutes remaining, however City got their fourth and final goal of the afternoon when the ball ricocheted off Agbadou and Nico O’Reilly, then into the path of Cherki who picked out the bottom corner from the edge of the box.
That goal truly put the game beyond Wolves, despite Fer Lopez twice having late efforts blocked and kept out by Trafford, as the Old Gold were beaten on day one.
However, the narrative was turned back towards Jota by the Old Gold supporters in the closing stages. The South Bank rang out with the Portuguese’s chant, way beyond the full-time whistle, as Sasa Kalajdzic placed down his number 18 shirt and players from both sides, including Ruben Dias and Silva, his Portuguese teammates. A moving final moment of an emotional evening.
Full-time | Wolves 0-4 Man City
Wolves | Sa, Hoever (R Gomes 73), Doherty, Agbadou, Toti, Wolfe (H Bueno 72), Andre (Lopez 73), J Gomes, Munetsi, Bellegarde (Arias 73), Strand Larsen (Hwang 82).
Unused subs | Johnstone, S Bueno, Mosquera, Kalajdzic.
Man City | Trafford, Lewis (Nunes 66), Stones (Khusanov 82), Dias, Ait-Nouri, Nico, Silva (O’Reilly 66), Bobb, Reijnders, Doku (Marmoush 66), Haaland (Cherki 73).
Unused subs | Ortega, Ake, Gundogan, Akanji.
