Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus were on the scoresheet for Manchester City at the Molineux Stadium on Monday.
Manchester City players. (Photo by LAURENCE GRIFFITHS / POOL / AFP)
Manchester City on Monday survived a scare to begin their Premier League 2020-21 season with a 3-1 win over Wolves.City’s title challenge began a week later than rivals Liverpool due to their UEFA Champions League participation.
Kevin de Bruyne, Phil Foden and Gabriel Jesus were on the scoresheet for Guardiola’s men at the Molineux Stadium. Raul Jimenez at the other end had given the home team a slight hope.
Meanwhile, it was De Bruyne, as usual, who emerged as City’s driving force from the word go in the first half. The PFA Player of the Year for 2019-20 season, burst into the Wolves area.
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In a desperate attempt to restrict the Belgian midfielder, Wolves stopper Romain Sass fouled him inside the area. Match official Andre Marriner awarded a penalty that De Bruyne converted with ease.
Despite Wolves having a psycholgical advantage, having beaten City twice last season, Guardiola’s men continued to dominate the proceedings and scored again in the 32nd minute.
De Bruyne was at the heart of the matter again as he found Raheem Sterling with an inch-perfect delivery. The England international then found his newest national teammate Foden for the latter to strike from 12 yards.
City’s swagger in the first half took a back seat after the break as Wolves made a desperate bid to get back into the contest. Nuno Espirito Santo’s team did well as they posed some serious questions to City defenders.
Daniel Podence had the first genuine opportunities to get Wolves back into the game, but his first attempt was wide and the second was chipped by the visiting goalkeeper Ederson.
Jimenez finall got one back for the home team as he met Podence’s cross with a powerful header.
However, it proved too little too late as Jesus made it 3-1 deep into the stoppage time for City to register their 12th straight opening match victory.
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