EPL: Wolves halt Man City run

Manchester City have dropped their first points of the 2018-19 season courtesy of a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Saturday.
The defending champions – who had quickly reassumed their place at the top of the table courtesy of a 6-1 win over Huddersfield Town last time out – came closest to breaking the deadlock in the first half when Sergio Aguero and Raheem Sterling both hit the woodwork within a minute of each other.
However, Wolves held their own and took the lead shortly before the hour mark – albeit in controversial circumstances as Willy Boly’s final touch came off his hand before bobbling into the bottom corner.
City hit back through a thumping Aymeric Laporte header 12 minutes later and almost made it three wins from three with the final meaningful action of the match when Aguero thumped a free kick against the crossbar.
Wolves survived to claim a second successive home draw upon their return to the Premier League.
City’s best moments in those early stages came down the left channel, with one such attack seeing Sergio Aguero cushion a header into the path of Ilkay Gundogan, whose tame effort was denied at the near post by Rui Patricio.
Wolves’ only sight of goal in that time came from range when Ruben Neves fired well off target, but they momentarily appeared to be rewarded for their positive attitude when they had the ball in the back of the net after 20 minutes.
A mistake from Vincent Kompany left Wolves with a two-on-one situation and Diogo Jota’s eventual shot deflected into the path of Raul Jimenez, who tucked home a simple finish from close range but was greeted by the unwelcome sight of the offside flag when wheeling away to celebrate.
City’s pressure was relentless during a 10-minute spell midway through the first half, though, and it took a fine last-ditch challenge from Boly to deny Aguero a clear chance shortly before the half-hour mark.
The home side’s best chance of the first half arrived shortly afterwards when Jimenez brought the ball down inside the box and worked space to shoot, only to slice his half-volley closer to the corner flag than goal from a tight angle.
Benjamin Mendy’s performance was not as influential as it had been in the opening two games of the season, but he did almost conjure up a chance towards the end of the first half when his vicious cross was only palmed into the path of Aguero, who could not sort his feet in time to truly test Patricio from the follow-up.
Wolves will have been happy with their first-half performance as they took City into the break still goalless, and while Pep Guardiola’s side controlled the early stages of the second period too, the best chance they could conjure saw Kompany head over from a Gundogan corner.
Indeed, the breakthrough came courtesy of Wolves, but not before they have given City a warning shot moments earlier when Helder Costa broke down the left flank before seeing his powerful effort well saved by Ederson at the near post.
The resulting corner saw Joao Moutinho exchange a one-two with Neves before swinging a delightful cross into the box which Boly bundled home at the back post – although replays showed that the final touch came off the defender’s arm.
There were surprisingly few complaints from City’s players as a new debate over VAR began to brew, with Guardiola’s side instantly turning their attention to getting back into the game. David Silva saw one shot blocked moments after falling behind and then felt as though he should have had a penalty for a trip by Neves inside the box.