MAN CITY 2-0 WOLVES: Pep Guardiola’s side got back on track at the Etihad as goals from Omar Marmoush and January signing Antoine Semenyo secured victory against Wolves
No Erling Haaland. No problem. Not when Wolves are the visitors.
Pep Guardiola chose to drop his scoring sensation, in a move designed to give Haaland a much-needed breather. Which might have been considered brave, given the fact City are struggling to cling to the coat-tails of title favourites Arsenal.
But Wolves helped make sure Haaland wasn’t missed by City, on an afternoon when Guardiola’s men didn’t have to break sweat. Goals from Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo were more than enough to see City secure their first league win of 2026.
Making it the perfect debut for new £30m signing Marc Guehi. Marmoush made the most of his first league start since August with the opening strike inside six minutes.
Before Semenyo doubled City’s lead on the stroke of half time. Guardiola had made a raft of changes to the team which had a major meltdown in the Arctic Circle.
READ MORE: Premier League explain why Man City weren’t awarded penalty despite Wolves handballREAD MORE: Erling Haaland and Phil Foden left OUT of Man City team for Wolves as Pep Guardiola explains
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The most notable being him dropping Haaland to the bench, while handing a debut to Guehi following his arrival from Crystal Palace. How Guardiola needed the calming influence of Guehi in a defence which had conceded five goals in back to back defeats.
Dropping more points was simply not an option for City, if they wanted to maintain a realistic chance of beating Arsenal to the title. And certainly not against visitors who arrived in Manchester rock bottom of the league table.
Wolves might have been unbeaten in their last five games in all competitions and enjoying a little renaissance. But there could be no excuses for City failing to brush them aside.
And it took the hosts less than six minutes to go ahead. Matheus Nunes was allowed too much time and space down the right to fire in a cross, which Marmoush met before beating Jose Sa with a clinical finish.
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Antoine Semenyo could have doubled City’s lead, but was denied by the legs of Sa. Wolves were struggling to get out of their own half and staring down the barrel of a pasting.
A swift move ended with Ryan Cherki lashing a shot inches wide of Sa’s right hand post. Having seen Plan A fail within minutes, Rob Edwards appeared incapable of producing a Plan B.
And the situation was not helped when Wolves did manage a meaningful attack, only for Mateus Mane to shoot hopelessly into the stand. City should have scored again when Cherki charged at the Wolves defence, but failed to pick out Marmoush, with the Egyptian waiting to grab his second.
Wolves continued to ride their luck when Abdukodir Khusanov picked out Marmoush with a fine diagonal ball, but when the forward cut inside and beat Sa, he saw his shot come back off the post. The good fortune continued when VAR checked a handball in the build up to Marmoush’s effort from Yerson Mosquera.
Referee Farai Hallam, making his Premier League debut, was told to check the pitch side monitor and stuck to his original decision when refusing to point to the spot. Somehow Wolves were still in the game, and Guardiola was incensed.
But all this changed on the stroke of half time when Semenyo ran onto Bernardo Silva’s pass before beating Sa with a clinical finish into the bottom corner.
Haaland came on with less than 20 minutes remaining. By which time the game had been won – and he still wasn’t needed.
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