Wolves 0-4 Man City: Haaland nets brace & Reijnders stars in their opening match

MANCHESTER City slipped comfortably back into their old routine at Molineux.

Match Report

Two quick-fire first-half goals got their season off to a flier, Erling Haaland’s third just after the hour killed off the hosts - and a late effort from sub Rayan Cherki rubbed salt into the wounds

Pep Guardiola’s crown might have slipped during a barren campaign at the Etihad last term, but a tricky opening day hurdle was safely navigated at Molineux.

The air of confidence - such a hallmark of the Catalan's side during their run of trophy-winning success - instantly returned as the cushion afforded them the control they thrive upon to kill off games.

They didn’t have it all their own way as Vitor Pereira’s side gave them a thorough workover during the opening half-hour.

Striker Marshall Munetsi was adjudged marginally offside as he converted Matt Doherty’s cross a few minutes before the visitors opened the scoring.

And that proved to be as good as it got for the hosts who fell behind when Tijjani Reijnders lifted a ball over the top for Rico Lewis 11 minutes before the break.

The defender’s run broke Wolves’s backline and his cross was turned in at the far post by Haaland.

That upset Wolves’ rhythm and defender Emmanuel Agbadou was off-beam with a pass into Andre.

The Brazilian mis-controlled and Oscar Bobb was onto it in a flash, charging forward before finding Reijnders who drilled a left foot effort across Jose Sa and into the bottom corner.

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That knocked the stuffing out of Vitor Pereira’s side, who could have caused a scare had Jorgen Strand Larsen side-footed into the net within seconds of the re-start.

But Haaland was on hand to force home after Reijnders’s pull-back to wrap up the points.

Before kick-off there was a heartfelt tribute to Wolves’ old boy Diogo Jota.

The South Bank end of Molineux held up cards as a backdrop to a tifo of the forward in celebratory pose.

A banner in front of the stand read: ‘We’ll remember you when you walk in fields of gold’ as the home faithful paid its respects to the Portuguese star who spent three seasons at the club after arriving in 2017.

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

17' Lewis fires in a cross which is defended for a corner

18' Fans rise up to pay moving and heartfelt tribute to Diogo Jota and Andre Silva

19' A fine cross comes over but Haaland can't steer it goalwards

27' Munetsi has the ball in the back of the net but it is ruled offside

29' James Trafford with a save from Munetsi but the Wolves player is offside again

35' GOAL! Lewis squares the ball perfectly for Haaland to score! Wolves 0-1 Man City

38' GOAL! Reijnders drills a shot into the bottom corner! Wolves 0-2 Man City

47' Larsen puts the ball into the side netting

58' A clever free-kick slides in Larsen but Trafford touches it over the bar

61' GOAL! Reijnders assists Haaland to smash the ball home! Wolves 0-3 Man City

66' Matheus Nunes, O'Reilly and Marmoush come as Lewis, Doku and Bernardo go off

73' Cherki comes on for his Premier League debut, replacing Haaland

75' Larsen gets a sight of goal and Trafford bats it away

81' GOAL! Wolves 0-4 Man City (Rayan Cherki)

82' Highlight from Wolves vs Man City

Line-ups

Wolves XI: Doherty, Jose Sa, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, Marshall Munetsi, Jørgen Strand Larsen, Hoever, Toti Gomes, David Møller Wolfe, Emmanuel Agbadou, João Gomes, André

Subs: Sam Johnstone, Sasa Kalajdzic, Hwang Hee-Chan, Santiago Bueno, Jhon Arias, Hugo Bueno, Yerson Mosquera, Rodrigo Gomes, Fer López

Man City XI: Stones, Ruben Dias, Bernardo Silva, Haaland, Reijnders, Rayan Aït-Nouri, Nico González, James Trafford, Doku, Bobb, Lewis

Subs: Gundogan, Ortega, Ake, Akanji, Omar Marmoush, Matheus Nunes, Cherki, Nico O'Reilly, Abdukodir Khusanov