Tribal Football

De Bruyne stars as Man City beat Wolves to jump into third

Adam Clancy
De Bruyne celebrates with fellow Belgian Doku
De Bruyne celebrates with fellow Belgian DokuCARL RECINE / Getty Images via AFP
Manchester City won their fourth successive Premier League game to put themselves in a great position to qualify for the UEFA Champions League (UCL) next season, after beating Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 at the Etihad Stadium.

Both teams tried their luck from distance early on, with Rúben Dias and Matheus Cunha shooting wide in the opening three minutes.

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Then, Wolves had some fantastic chances to take the lead. Jean‐Ricner Bellegarde broke City’s offside trap but could not find Marshall Munetsi, who was agonisingly close to his square ball.

Marauding left wing-back Rayan Aït-Nouri then found himself in the box and hit the post with his left foot, before his right-footed effort was cleared off the line by Joško Gvardiol

The hosts took control near the end of the first half as Nico O'Reilly’s close-range strike was tipped over by José Sá, before they took a HT lead.

Jérémy Doku cut back for Kevin De Bruyne, who placed into the bottom corner - there was not a more popular goalscorer at the Etihad considering he is leaving at the end of the season.

Wolves were not too disheartened from falling behind though and struck the post again early in the second half, this time through Cunha from a narrow angle.

City began to take control again though as Omar Marmoush and Mateo Kovačić fired wide, but could not find the second goal to kill the match.

Nonetheless, they still emerged victorious and extended their winning H2H run at home to five matches, as Wolves’ own six-game winning streak came to an end.

Flashscore Man of the Match: Kevin De Bruyne (Manchester City)

Key match stats
Key match statsOpta by StatsPerform

Catch up on the match here.