Manchester City followed up their emphatic win over Spurs with a great performance against Julen Lopetegui’s Wolves side to move five points behind leader’s Arsenal, granted the Gunners have a game in hand.
Here are my player ratings from the 3-0 victory:
GK: Ederson- 6/10
Barring the games against Chelsea in the Premier League and FA Cup, that was Ederson’s and more importantly City’s first clean sheet since the 1-0 win away from home to Leicester at the back end of October. A quiet game for the Brazilian means City controlled proceedings and never looked like conceding.
RB: Rico Lewis- 6/10
Another solid performance from the 18-year-old. Lewis was slightly more wasteful when in possession than usual but the teenager is still learning. Substituted at half-time for tactical reasons.
CB: John Stones- 8/10
Struggling to recall Stones’ last bad game in a City shirt. His overall game is superb and he is arguably the best defender in world football currently. Ball-carrying, line-breaking passes and composed defending, Stones has the lot.
CB: Manuel Akanji- 7.5/10
Another great game from the Swiss international, Akanji is slowly returning to his form from the beginning of the season. Akanji and Stones were never under any threat and handled Raul Jimenez with ease.
LB: Aymeric Laporte- 8/10
Laporte is playing at his highest level in a City shirt since the 18/19 season. He excelled in the left-back role on Sunday and used his tactical awareness, fabulous range of passing and aerial ability to stifle Wolves’ right-hand flank and help City progress from the back. I can see Guardiola testing the Spaniard as a left-back more often, especially with Rico Lewis’ presence in the side, as when the 18-year-old inverts into midfield, Laporte becomes a left-sided centre-back. Another fantastic performance.
CDM: Rodri- 9/10
Running out of superlatives. Defensively a colossus, he reads the game superbly and his clipped balls out wide to Riyad Mahrez are a thing of beauty. World-class.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan- 7/10
The German won the penalty early in the second half converted by Haaland. Gundogan missed a glorious chance to score his third of the season, failing to convert a header at the back post. Completed 90% of his passes and quite often set the tempo for City’s attacks.
CM: Kevin De Bruyne- 7/10
City’s maestro returned to the starting XI and marked his return with a beautiful cross that was gladly accepted by goal-machine Haaland. De Bruyne provided three key passes in the match however, I still think the Belgian has levels to go before he hits his optimum performance.
RW: Riyad Mahrez- 7.5/10
Mahrez’s performance deserved a goal, when Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa presented the Algerian with the ball Mahrez unselfishly squared it to Haaland for the Norwegian to complete his hat-trick. The winger also provided two key passes and has been electric for the Blues since the World Cup.
ST: Erling Haaland- 9.5/10- MOTM
I stated in my predicted XI if the Norwegian was presented was chances, he could have a field day. I was gladly proven correct as Haaland scored his fourth hat-trick of a truly record-breaking season. With 25 Premier League goals in just 19 appearances and 31 goals in all competitions, Haaland is inevitable when it comes to finding the net. Not bad for a man who supposedly doesn’t fit Guardiola’s system.
LW: Jack Grealish- 7/10
Grealish was denied an obvious penalty at the end of the first half when Nathan Collins caught City’s number 10. VAR had other ideas though. Despite this, Grealish was solid and played with more purpose, driving at Wolves’ backline and trying to make things happen. I would love to see Grealish be more two-dimensional, and add more variety to his wing play. A good performance nonetheless.
Substitutes:
Nathan Ake: 7/10- Defensively a rock this season, will be necessary for City’s Champions League campaign.
Julian Alvarez: 6/10- Replaced hat-trick hero Haaland, denied by Sa when through on goal but relatively little action outside of that.
Bernardo Silva: 6/10- Not enough time to truly make an impact
Kalvin Philips: N/A
Cole Palmer: N/A
Pep Guardiola: 9/10
Guardiola’s message to his players and to City fans after the Spurs win was nothing short of incredible. The City manager is a serial winner, knows how to motivate his squads, and will not allow standards to drop. A second successive win for City and a massive FA Cup clash against league leaders Arsenal awaits Guardiola’s team on Friday night.