At Molineux, Man City was missing a series of key players as Bernardo Silva, John Stones and Kevin De Bruyne continued to be absent due to injury. Midfielder Rodrigo was suspended for grabbing Morgan Gibbs-White by the neck and receiving a straight red card in the win over Nottingham Forest a week ago.
Before kickoff, the defending champion received more bad news when coach Pep Guardiola was banned from directing due to a change in the rules. Last season, coaches were banned from directing one match if they received four yellow cards. But this season, that limit is three yellow cards, when the organizers want to reduce overreactions from coaches.
Coach Guardiola sat in the stands at Molineux Stadium because he was banned from directing according to new regulations in the Premier League round 7 match between Man City and host Wolves.
Guardiola received a yellow card in the 0-1 loss to Newcastle in the third round of the League Cup in midweek, along with two yellow cards in the matches against Burnley and Nottingham Forest in the Premier League. Therefore, the Spanish coach is not allowed to stand in the technical area and must sit in the Molineux stands.
This caused Man City to get off to a shaky start and conceded a goal in the 13th minute. Neto accelerated to eliminate both Phil Foden and Nathan Ake on the right wing, entered the penalty area and then crossed Ruben Dias into the net. The goal was counted as an own goal by the Portugues centre-back
Dias scored an own goal after a cross from the right by Pedro Neto
In the remaining minutes of the first half, Wolves retreated deep into their defensive formation, leaving Man City deadlocked. The most significant situation created by the away team was that Ake’s close-range kick was blocked by goalkeeper Jose Sa.
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When Erling Haaland was blocked and did not leave much of an impression, Man City suddenly found an equalizer at the beginning of the second half thanks to the brilliance of striker Julian Alvarez. From a free kick to the left wing, the 2022 World Cup champion shot the ball over the fence and into the top corner of the goal. Goalkeeper Jose Sa touched the ball but could not save it.
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Alvarez scored the second free kick of his career, after Man City won 3-1 against Red Star Belgrade in the first match of Group G Champions League on September 19. This is a statistic that Haaland or Kylian Mbappe – the two strikers considered the best in the world right now – have not been able to do even once.
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By the 66th minute, Man City continued to concede goals due to defensive mistakes. From Nelson Semedo’s cross on the right wing, defender Manuel Akanji cleared the ball to Hwang Hee-chan’s position. The Korean striker hit Dias with a one-touch shot, then was fed the ball by Matheus Cunha to continue scoring into an empty net. Before the match, Guardiola himself praised Hwang as a dangerous striker for Wolves.
In this match, Wolves only had three shots, with one shot on target, but it was enough to cause Man City to receive their first defeat in the Premier League this season.
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On October 4, Man City played RB Leipzig in round two of Group G of the Champions League and then battled Arsenal in round eight of the Premier League on October 8.