Pedro Neto scored an own goal to give his team the lead.
Manchester City surrendered a 0-1 lead to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the seventh round of the 2023-24 Premier League (PL) at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England, at 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
'Defending champions' Man City. Even after the strongest league finish this season. After starting the season on a high note with a 3-0 league-opening win over Burnley, City went on to record wins against Newcastle United, Sheffield United, Fulham, West Ham United, and Nottingham Forest. Sixteen goals and three conceded in six league games. Boasting a perfect offensive and defensive balance, they are challenging for a 'four-game unbeaten streak', which is unprecedented in PL history.
Wolverhampton, the 'Army of Wolves', are going through a rather difficult time at the start of the season. They have one win, one draw, and four losses (four points) in their first six league games, leaving them in 16th place. They can use the excuse that they've faced tough opponents like Manchester United, Brighton, and Liverpool, but they've also failed to pick up points in games they should have won. The only win came against Everton in the third round. Even then, the performance wasn't great. Even against 'promoted' Luton Town, they were outplayed and barely managed to get a point.
Ahead of the clash, both teams announced their starting lineups. The home side, Wolverhampton, started with a 3-4-3 formation with Hwang, Cunha, Neto, Ait-Nouri, Gomes, Lemina, Semedo, Gomes, Kilman, and Dawson, with José Sa in goal. In contrast, City utilized a 4-2-3-1 formation. Holland, Dockoo, Alvarez, Foden, Kovacic, Nunes, Ake, Dias, Akanji, and Walker filled out the starting lineup, with Ederson in goal.
City opened the scoring. In the second minute of the first half, Akanji picked up the ball near the center circle, dribbled forward looking for a place to play a pass, and when he saw space open up, he went straight for it with a mid-range shot, but the ball sailed well over the bar. City failed to capitalize on a crucial chance. In the fourth minute of the first half, Dias saw Nunes breaking into the box and played a penetrating pass to Nunes, who collected the ball and immediately tried to cut back to Holland, but the defense cleared it away. The attack then developed from a corner kick and Doku collected the ball just outside the box, but his right-footed mid-range shot went wide of the right side of the goal.
As expected, the game was dominated by City from the start of the first half. They built up with short passes and looked for gaps in the opponent's defense. Wolverhampton, after drawing down their defensive line as much as possible, focused on defense and looking to exploit City's weaknesses with quick counterattacks. Wolverhampton struck first. In the 12th minute, Neto broke into the City box with a dribble after overcoming pressure from the opposition, and when he saw his teammate cut back, the ball deflected off the foot of Dias and into the City net.
Wolverhampton seized the momentum. In the 14th minute, Ait-Nouri picked up the ball on the left flank, dribbled past Walker and made his way into the box, but lost the battle and couldn't finish. After conceding the lead, City pushed for an equalizer. In the 17th minute, Nunes played a pass to Holland in the box, who was able to find a shooting angle with his feet, but was unable to finish under heavy pressure from the opposition.
City continued to press. In the 20th minute, after receiving a transition pass from Walker on the left side of the box, Dokou broke into the box with a simple dribble and attempted a surprise right-footed shot, but the ball went wide left of the goal. City were dominating the attack, but the finishing continued to disappoint. In the 21st minute, Dias broke into the box with a pass from a teammate and fired a right-footed shot that was deflected by a defender but not into the goal.
City took advantage. In the 25th minute, Nunes was brought down by a tackle in the box and a free kick was awarded. Alvarez stepped up to take the kick, and Ake, who was rushing in to take the cross, attempted a header that was blocked by the defense. Still focused, Ake immediately connected with a left-footed volley from a loose ball, but it too was not on target.
City continued to create chances. In the 27th minute, they won a free kick, this time on the left side of the half-space, and Foden, who stepped up to take the kick, tried to cross but couldn't connect with his teammates in the box. City swallowed 바카라사이트 their disappointment. 28th minute After pressing forward, Foden won the ball near the opposition box and tried to shoot from inside the box, but his effort was blocked by Josua, who did well to narrow the angle.
Wolverhampton's physical defense shone through. Kovacic had a shot on target in the 30th minute, followed by shots from Dockoo and Foden, but they were all blocked by the Wolves defense. City were unable to find a way through the Wolverhampton defense. They used the mobility of Dokou, Alvarez, and Foden to attack, but they couldn't break through the Wolves defense that dropped back.
The inability to get the ball into the box led to more mid-range shots. In the 39th minute, Dokou picked up the ball on the left side of the half-space and attempted a right-footed mid-range shot, but the ball sailed over the bar. Wolverhampton, having survived the crisis, looked to capitalize on Neto's pace to add to their lead, but their lack of precision didn't translate into a shot on target. However, they managed to hold on to their lead and the first half ended 1-0.