Manchester City 0-2 Wolves: 3 players who impressed and 2 who didn't | Premier League 2019-20
By the final whistle, a surprise result was to be found at the Etihad Stadium where Manchester City were overpowered in the final stages of the game. The Cityzens picked up their second loss of the season against an unexpected team, once more.
Perhaps foreseeing things to come, Wolverhampton Wanderers had the first great chance only four minutes into the game. City's high line allowed Patrick Cutrone to receive a through-pass and run towards goal, but he failed at the finish.
A poor pass from Riyad Mahrez opened up another counter for Wolves again but Fernandinho blocked two shots to save City. Minutes later, another poor City pass by Nicolas Otamendi sent Wolves towards Ederson's goalpost yet again. Raul Jimenez was unable to take a shot on time and Ederson saved the Cityzens.
Rui Patricio saved good shots by Raheem Sterling and Kyle Walker during the first half as Man City kept up the pressure on Wolves.
The second half came with a few more chances for City. A David Silva free-kick dashed on the crossbar, and a few moments later, Silva had another go from the near-post but couldn't keep it down. Bernardo Silva's shot in the 75th minute ricocheted off Sergio Aguero and Ryan Bennett, and Patricio was able to get to it.
However, with ten minutes of full time remaining, Adama Traore was the man to open the scoring in awesome fashion. Raul Jimenez picked up the ball in Wolves half and started an amazing counter-attack. He dribbled past a flailing Otamendi and dropped a pass to Traore who coolly slotted in a finish past Ederson in the bottom right corner.
Post their goal, Wolves fell back to weather the Cityzens' onslaught. Patricio helped keep out a Bernardo Silva cross that nearly found the net. Oleksandr Zinchenko's cross found Aguero but the Argentinian was unable to keep it on target.
Wolves, however, found another, with barely any time left. Jimenez gave a quick pass to Traore who was unmarked in the middle of the pitch. Traore ran down to the final third and slotted his second goal of the game past Ederson, 15 minutes after his first.
The whole stadium remained stunned and quiet, save for the away section that had screaming Wolves fans.
Manchester City now have another mountain to climb before they can reach Liverpool.
Without further ado, let's take a look at three players who impressed and two players who didn't.
#5 Rui Patricio was a rock for Wolves
The 31-year-old goalkeeper put his experience to good use as he maintained solidity within his sticks and kept a clean sheet at City's expense.
While he was a bit lucky that a number of chances were long shots, those that came near his post were parried behind the line or caught. He almost let a goal in during David Silva's freekick but Patricio was saved by the bar.
Man City were also below par today, but that does not take away Patricio's effectiveness in the gloves for Wolves today. Those three points won by his team are thanks to his agility in goal, and he should be proud of such a performance.