Manchester City 2-0 Wolves Review

Premier League GW23

It’s been a tough week for Manchester City, with a poor performance in the derby, and the way the Champions League match went, leaving them with a must-win game against Galatasaray next week. Players like Phil Foden and Erling Haaland are looking far off their form earlier in the season. Depth options that have struggled to make an impact this season and have picked up injuries. Key players picking up injuries have taken away from the stability in the backline and the setups Guardiola can employ.

Against Wolves, they’ve taken a step in the right direction, along with recovering some players and integrating new signings; the impact from those has been immediate. It’s also allowed the team to return to playing with the 4-2-2-2 we saw before those injuries.

MOTM: MARC GUEHI

Manchester City debut for Marc Guehi, who completed the most passes (98/105) in the match, 2nd most passes into the final third, and created 1 chance. 2 shots blocked. 3/6 long passes completed. 2 interceptions. 2/4 aerial duels won.

After each of them scored excellent goals and provided consistent threats with their runs, Semenyo and Marmoush were other shouts for the MOTM, but Guehi was the one who made a visible difference to the stability of the backline. Along with the return of Nunes.

We got to see his qualities in different moments, whether it’s the passes in behind, the switches, his leap for set-pieces, carrying the ball through the 1st line, and the ease with which he recovers the ball high up the pitch. Guehi is decisive, stepping up to an opposition attacker on the halfway line where Alleyne was not against Bodo. Impressive for having only one training session with the team and plenty of reasons to be excited.

Notable Stats:

• All eight of Omar Marmoush's Premier League goals have been scored at the Etihad Stadium - the most goals by any player in Premier League history, with 100% coming at the same ground.

• Erling Haaland and Phil Foden are both not in the starting eleven for the first time since Leverkusen (H).

• Abdukodir Khusanov has now completed six consecutive full 90's, which is the joint longest run by a City central defender this season, along with Ruben Dias from Burnley (H) to Villa (A).

Game Stats:

Manchester City 2-0 Wolves

• xG: 1.06 - 0.58

• xThreat: 1.44 - 1.01

• Possession: 63.2% - 36.8%

• Field Tilt: 74.8% - 25.2%

• Penalty Box Shots: 8 - 4

• Deep Entries: 15 - 4

• PPDA: 5.7 - 16.7

• High Turnovers: 3 - 3

First game for the new CB pairing, Marc Guehi and Abdukodir Khusanov, keeping a clean sheet, and the former making his debut for the club.

Antoine Semenyo has completed his 3rd full 90' for Manchester City, the same as Savinho has managed this season.

If you want to stay up-to-date on individual player minutes, back four combinations, underlying numbers, and more, check out the live Google sheet below. 👇

Erling Haaland and Phil Foden get the rest that’s long been coming. That’s deserved through form as well as needing the rest. Driven largely by the lack of options available, and of those there, not performing.

Matheus Nunes returns, and so does Manchester City, playing with a 4-2-2-2 as the full-backs push up the flank, the ‘wingers’ in Marmoush and Semenyo tuck inside. Notice that throughout the game, both of them stayed in the blind spot behind the wide CB. That means they’re difficult to spot once making runs, and that was key for both goals. It also means the Wolves wing-back is caught between them, and the City full-back is left in space to receive an easy switch.

The double 10s of Reijnders and Cherki can take turns dropping to receive the ball and when to make runs into the box, leaving the CCB of Bueno a difficult match to read their movements and not jump too soon.

Out-of-possession, Semenyo and Marmoush were the wingers, pressing with a 4-1-4-1 shape, leaving Rodri between the lines to cover across either side. Cherki pushes the opposition to one side, from there the winger can jump to the wide CB, supported by the FB jumping to the Wolves WB, and the Wolves pivots in Andre and Gomes are covered by Reijnders and Silva.

When Wolves were in possession in the City half, you’d see that same 4-1-4-1 shape with Cherki pressing Wolves defenders to one side, and then either Reijnders or Silva would jump up to press the wide CB, rather than the wingers.

The first chance comes from Bernardo Silva’s delivery to the back-post, where Marc Guehi (4’) gets on the end of it, similar to what we’ve seen from Ake, recently, and Gvardiol. Giving you an idea of the threat he can provide in the absence of Josko.

O. Marmoush 6' 1-0  

Excellent finish by Marmoush with the sole of his boot to score the opening goal, which begins with Manchester City circulating the ball across the backline before Silva passes it out to Nunes in space on the right side.

With Semenyo tucking inside and Bueno staying in the defensive line, Nunes always has time to receive before being under pressure.

He stands up the wing-back, bursts past him, and whips in the cross to the 6-yard box. Marmoush begins his run on the far side, in the blind side of Mosquera, and arrives just in front to convert the cross.

We get another look at the passing range of Marc Guehi with his ball over the top to Semenyo (10’), who gets the shot off, but not enough contact on the ball to take it past the keeper.

Cherki (17’) has a chance that starts with Semenyo recovering the ball high up the pitch and City work it to O’Reilly. He fires the ball into Marmoush, who lays it off for Cherki to take a touch and strike. Just over the bar.

Not long after, Cherki combines well with Marmoush in transition, off a Wolves free-kick after recovering the ball, only to play the pass slightly behind.

Khusanov drives a ball in behind for Marmoush (35’). He takes a touch to bring it down, another to move back inside when the Wolves defenders come across, and the ball catches his arm. He still manages to get a shot off, but it’s impacted by the touch of Mosquera. VAR calls the referee to the screen, but he sticks with his decision after watching it back. Clear handball missed, by today’s standards, in my opinion.

A. Semenyo 45+2' 2-0  

Rodri through the first line to Cherki. Quick turn and pass around the corner to Silva. Then through to Semenyo. Similar to the Marmoush goal, he's looking to stay in the central defender's blind spot before making his move.

One touch to take it out from his feet and in front of the defender, Krejci. Second is the shot to pass it into the far-corner of the goal.

Other than the free-kick Joao Gomes shot just over the bar (55’), Wolves didn’t have a shot between the 32nd minute and the 66th from a set-piece. Only the two shots for them in the entire first half as Manchester City limited them well. Should add that the free-kick given away is a poor foul by Khusanov. He should know Mane is looking to win that by going down quickly.

The first half chances for Manchester City in the second half eventually come with Reijnders’ (60’) and Cherki's (61’) shots, which are missed, both well outside the box.

Foden came on for Reijnders (61’) for the final thirty minutes, which I think in part was due to the team looking a bit flat when it came to maintaining the press from the first half and recovering the ball.

Set piece for Wolves saw Donnarumma save the header by Mosquera (66’), which was probably the best chance they had all game, and quite fortunate since it’s the trailing hand stopping the shot, as the initial punch misses the ball.

Haaland and Doku came on for Marmoush and Cherki (74’). Not long after that, we saw Semenyo hitting the post (78’) after a well-worked chance, a lovely bit of work by Doku to beat a player and move inside, playing through Wolves, and Foden finding him free on the right for the shot.

Another chance for Wolves and Mosquera (87’) from a corner that ended up hitting the post. The final minutes of the game finish with Wolves having a couple of shots blocked by NOR and Guehi (90’+5).

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Moving Forward

Against Manchester United, it was clear to see the impact of that backline, passive when pressing, missing someone to organize them, and switching off when it comes to defending either post. In possession, as good as United were, and compact in their 4-4-2 shape, the attempts by Manchester City to cause problems, to find overloads wasn’t there. It was easy to lock off the middle, force City-wide, where they’d have an easy time covering the midfielder in the half-space, and doubling up on the winger.

They then head to Norway to face Bodo. Guardiola confirmed afterwards that Jeremy Doku and Nathan Ake had no chance of playing. Semenyo cannot play in the CL until the KO rounds. In hindsight, a game you could have looked to rest Haaland, but with Marmoush only just back from AFCON, it’s not easy to fit in another option in his place.

It’s a controlled opening for twenty minutes. Ait-Nouri is less inclined to go on the outside, but using him at full-back allows Reijnders and Lewis to play deeper, adding more players in the middle to outnumber the opposition pivot and give you options. In return, Bodo doubled down on being narrow and compact in their 4-4-2. Making the trade-off to give Manchester City the space out wide, where they lacked the players to really take advantage and make the difference.

Poor hold-up by Haaland, followed by Alleyne completely misjudging the moment to step up, gives Bodo a 3v2 in transition. Ait-Nouri and Alleyne leave two players free at the back-post, and the crowd is up for the opening goal.

Ball over the top, Alleyne attempts to chest it down, take another touch, but the Bodo attacker is already over to pounce on his mistake. 2v1 in transition. Now you’re two goals down in 24 minutes.

Rodri was poor in his attempt to tackle the dribbler, leading to the third goal, which he was easily passed. The backline is pinned by four attackers, so none of them can step up to support, and to his credit, it’s an excellent finish into the top corner. Now, it’s a wonderful bit of skill by O’Reilly on the edge of the opposition box, before Cherki scores the goal, but your game plan is already killed by the mistakes in the first half. It would have taken the life out of the players and given a lift to the opposition. The red card by Rodri is the final nail in the coffin of the game.

I don’t put the Bodo game in the same bracket as the United performance, which was poor from back-to-front. As tough as it is, those two mistakes from Alleyne, followed by a mistake and red card by Rodri, killed the team in this game after having any chance to pick up even a point. Although Guardiola was limited by the injuries, the setup changed from United to give players more options.

Heading into the Wolves match, Manchester City had players back, and the performance showed you, quite clearly, the difference that missing them made. Silva, from his suspension against Bodo, along with this setup, was excellent in a deeper role, controlling tempo and dribbling past the 1st line of the press.

Matheus Nunes recovered from his illness and showed how far he’s come this season. For me, it’s not the assist, it’s being dependable and switched on defensively. Calm on the ball, not rushing or forcing passes. Constantly communicating with the other defenders. If you want more on Nunes, check out a recent Ninety Three Twenty podcast on him, linked below. 👇

Unlike against Bodo, you had a constant threat of runs in behind from Semenyo and Marmoush, who positioned themselves behind the wide central defenders of Wolves. Both were threats to carry the ball in transition, although they didn’t convert those chances this game. Either of them, you’re confident in getting a few shots on target and scoring when they get a chance. They are threats in the box where Doku, Savinho, and Bobb are not. So that combination worked well as an option when you are resting Erling Haaland.

Marc Guehi, on his debut, showed his experience as a defender, already looking comfortable in the team in his passing, and with his leadership among the backline. Makes plenty of actions look calm, with a clear idea of his next move already decided in his head. In those moments, Alleyne made mistakes against Bodo, but Guehi handles those with ease against Wolves. It’s a learning experience for the academy graduate that he’ll pick up with time, but right now, Manchester City needs the guarantee Guehi provides.

How Marc Guéhi is used for set pieces will be something to keep an eye on for the rest of this season. He hasn't scored the volume of goals yet, despite showing in club and country the variety of ways he can contribute here.

Whether it's getting a foot on it at the back-post, headers from the middle of the box, flick-ons, or getting around a defender for a free-kick. He's done them all recently.

Nothing new for the Wolves game. Straight swap for Gvardiol for his 1st game, as the player who is free and arriving at the back-post. Semenyo has taken the role of Silva on the keeper, added size, and is in a good position to pounce on loose balls and make clever touches.

The run of games after returning will prove to be a great experience for Max Alleyne to reflect on and develop. Showing his qualities on the ball and highlighting areas defensively to improve. Reading when to step up to players in the opposition's half and covering the posts better in his own box. Has continued to get decent chances from corners, and it wouldn't surprise me to see him score a couple this season. More opportunities in the Cup competitions to come.

Next up for Manchester City is a must-win game against Galatasaray in the Champions League on Wednesday 28th of January at 20:00 (UK time). After losing to Bodo, the team is left with 13 points. Tied with PSG, Newcastle, Chelsea, Barcelona, Sporting, Atletico Madrid, and Atalanta. They need to win the game and have other results go their way.

Spurs are in the top eight and have Frankfurt (A). PSG plays against Newcastle, so that will take one of those out of the race. Chelsea have Napoli (A). Sporting have Athletic Club (A). Barcelona have Copenhagen (H). Atletico Madrid play Bodo (H). Atalanta play Union Saint-Gilloise (A). It’s tricky, but there is more than enough there to give Manchester City a good chance of making the top eight.

In terms of the team, as we saw against Wolves, the steps forward are recovering players and integrating the new ones. Unfortunately, this season, the fringe players have not been available and have underperformed. At the time Foden and Haaland dropped off from the form earlier in the season is when you expected players like Marmoush, Savinho, and Bobb to step in. The backline is key, the full-backs for the way we can play, and the central defenders to provide stability. You add fit Rodri and Nico in front, and that’s the foundation for a successful end to the season, between all the attacking options in front of them.