Soccer

John Stones’ injury-time header gives Manchester City dramatic win at Wolves

Controversial winning goal as the officials checked VAR for an infringement

Manchester City's John Stones celebrates scoring side's winning goal. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
Manchester City's John Stones celebrates scoring side's winning goal. Photograph: Nick Potts/PA
Ben Fisher at Molineux
Sun Oct 20 2024 - 16:37
Premier League: Wolves 1 Manchester City 2 (Larsen 7; Gvardiol 33, Stones 90+5)

With about 25 seconds of five fraught minutes of second-half stoppage time remaining, John Stones powered in Phil Foden’s corner to send the Wolves assistant coach, Shaun Derry, sinking to the turf in the home technical area and the away fans wild. For Gary O’Neil, the sickening part centred on the manner of the goal, with Bernardo Silva screening José Sá in the Wolves goal. Last season Wolves railed at VAR after Max Kilman saw a 99th-minute leveller disallowed at West Ham because Tawanda Chirewa was deemed to be blocking the view of Lukasz Fabianski. This time the referee, Chris Kavanagh, visited the VAR monitor and returned a verdict in Pep Guardiola’s favour.

Of course, a hulking 6ft 4in Norwegian, a 24-year-old number nine would open the scoring. Only it was not Erling Haaland but Jørgen Strand Larsen who capped a slick Wolves move to give Manchester City something to think about. Guardiola’s side equalised courtesy of a graceful Josko Gvardiol strike but just as it seemed Wolves would be rewarded for digging deep into the energy reserves to eke out an invaluable point, they were consigned to a damaging defeat. By this point next weekend, Wolves will have faced seven of the top eight across their first nine matches.

Fear nothing. Reading the Wolves strap line on the big screens, centre circle banner and advertising hoardings is one thing but adopting that mindset is another, particularly when devoid of confidence after taking a single point from the first seven games and the champions are in town. O’Neil acknowledged the deeper the rut, the harder it is for Wolves to clamber out, and the mental challenge of trying to shut out City. Mario Lemina, who wears the captain’s armband and his heart on his sleeve, said only liars and cheaters would blame their manager for their poor run.

Wolves’s appetite to keep a first clean sheet since February appeared both physically and mentally exhausting. It was a sapping experience, at one point Toti Gomes doing an impromptu headstand on the goalline after desperately hacking away a smacked shot by Silva. Craig Dawson and Lemina were alert to every ball. O’Neil frantically tapped his temples as André shepherded the ball out of play for a Wolves goal-kick 29 minutes in, a rare luxury after absorbing relentless pressure as City sought an equaliser.

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Four minutes later it arrived, Jérémy Doku, wide on the left, shifting the ball to Gvardiol 20 yards from goal. City attacked in numbers, every outfield player in jasper red perched on the perimeter of the Wolves box. Gvardiol’s first touch allowed the ball to roll across his body and with his next he curled a right-foot shot into the top corner, via Sá's fingertips.

Sá, who replaced the injured Sam Johnstone in goal, had a fine game. He made a smart early save down to his right to deny Silva and another in first-half stoppage time to push Savinho’s punched effort out for a corner after Silva pinched possession inside the box. In the second half Sá plunged to his left to force Rúben Dias’s effort round his left post and Wolves survived a couple more scares but City did not penetrate the hosts quite so easily.

Gonçalo Guedes appeared minded to run the clock down with 83 minutes gone. Tommy Doyle, the former City midfielder, entered at the interval and then his former team-mate, Foden, followed midway through the second half as Guardiola attempted to dial up the pressure. Guardiola later turned to Matheus Nunes, the former Wolves midfielder whose arrival was roundly jeered by the home support. Plenty more anger followed. – Guardian