Match Report and Player Ratings: Manchester City 5-1 Wolves (Premier League)

A four-goal performance from Erling Haaland saw Manchester City stroll to a 5-1 win against Wolves on Saturday to control their destiny in the Premier League title race.

The Norwegian’s first-half hat-trick helped put the game to bed in the opening 45 minutes, as Manchester City stayed within a point of Arsenal, with a game in hand. City took the lead in the 12th minute when Haaland converted from the penalty spot.

After a dominant start, the Sky Blues slowly began to let Wolves back into the game. The mid-table side had barely had any possession in City’s half but were beginning to break through. However, they were still unable to sustain their attacks long enough to get a shot off.

Just as it appeared as though Manchester City may be struggling, the second goal came in the 35th minute, when Rodri lofted a ball to the back post that was calmly headed in by Erling Haaland. 

After the second, Wolves’ defensive structure was abandoned and Manchester City pounced. After a few failed counter-attacks, the Sky Blues were awarded a second penalty after Erling Haaland was taken out from behind by Nelson Semedo. The Norwegian put the ball in the exact same place as his first and despite guessing correctly, José Sá was unable to save.

It was a first half hat-trick for Haaland, and Manchester City’s press prevented Wolves from attempting a shot for the entire first half, highlighting a dominant first half display. Hwang Hee-Chan was able to grab one back for Wolves in the 53rd minute when Ederson slapped a cross directly into the path of the striker. 

However, before most could even process the rebuttal goal, Erling Haaland found himself behind the Wolves defence once again. Cutting in on his left, the 23-year-old blasted a curling effort into the top right corner to score his fourth goal of the match.

After the fourth goal, the game appeared dead and the intensity immediately dropped. John Stones was brought on for Nathan Ake, and eventually Bernardo Silva, Kevin De Bruyne, Phil Foden and Erling Haaland were all replaced within minutes of one another by Jeremy Doku, Matheus Nunes, Jack Grealish and Julian Alvarez.

And it was the latter who grabbed the fifth and final goal of the game in the 85th minute when Rodri played an excellent ball to the Argentine, who had a lovely finish.

Following another excellent evening at the office, as Pep Guardiola’s side made it 20 matches unbeaten in the Premier League this season, here are our player ratings from a dominant 5-1 win against Wolves!

Player Ratings

Ederson – 7

Didn’t have to do too much, and was unlucky to create the only Wolves goal of the game.

Kyle Walker – 7

After a shaky performance against Nottingham Forest last week, Kyle Walker looked back to his 2024 self against Wolves this time around. Let’s hope he carries it through the rest of the run-in. 

Manuel Akanji – 7.5

To this day, we still cannot believe Borussia Dortmund let this man go, and only for £15 million too. He has been great since day one, and was once again flawless today.

Nathan Ake -7.5

Another game, another unsung performance, steady as always.

Josko Gvardiol – 8.5

Better and better each game, has seemingly ironed out all of his issues from earlier on in the season and is smooth as silk on the ball. 

Rodri – 9

Two lovely assists. His only mistake was not realising someone was behind him in the first half, and it’s possibly the only bad thing you can say about him since the red card against Nottingham Forest. Should be the Ballon D’or winner. 

Mateo Kovacic – 7

Wasn’t needed after the first half surge of goals, but helped wrangle control in the opening half. 

Kevin De Bruyne – 7.5

At times he was incredibly involved, but was rarely able to actually create much. Was at his best when driving the ball at Wolves backline.

Bernardo Silva – 7

Almost had as little touches as Erling Haaland, but was great in his limited action. Was a threat down the right hand side, one of his better performances as of late. 

Erling Haaland – 10 (MOTM)

And just like that, any and all criticism of his season disappeared. Looked like the version of Erling Haaland we saw in the fall 2022.

Phil Foden – 7.5

Decent performance after getting shifted out to the left wing, drifted all over and was slick on the ball when rarely called upon. 

Substitutes

John Stones – N/A

Jack Grealish – N/A

Jeremy Doku – N/A

Matheus Nunes – N/A

Julian Alvarez – 7

Solid goal, hope it boosts his confidence.