- Jesus scores inside 10 minutes
- Wolves’ Willy Boly sent off in the 19th minute
- Sterling won penalty kick in first half
- Own goal in second half puts the game on ice
Gabriel Jesus scored a brace and Kevin De Bruyne made his Premier League return for the first time this calendar year as Manchester City comfortably swept aside 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers, 2-0. After allowing an early goal, Wolves evening went from bad to worse when centerback Willy Boly was sent off in the 19th minute.
It was Wolves’ first red card of the season in any competition.
With the win, Manchester City moves to within four points of Liverpool’s lead at the top of the table, as the title race heats up this frosty January.
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Controlling the tempo early, Manchester City showed that the club’s recent form, with 16 goals scored in the last two cup matches, could carry over into the Premier League. In the 10th minute, it only took three touches for Man City to go from the backline to the back of the net.
Aymeric Laporte split the Wolves backline with a brilliant pass down the left channel, right into the run of Leroy Sane. Sane played a one-time pass across the face of goal, providing Jesus with a perfect pass that he re-directed home sliding towards the goal.
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While Wolves had a pair of half-chances following the goal, the match became just about out of hand in the 19th minute. Boly, in trying to win the ball off Bernardo Silva, slid in with his studs up, going through Silva in the process. Boly was quickly shown a red card, putting his team in a real hole.
Manchester City continued to attack in the first half as time went by, and in the 39th minute, the Cityzens got their just rewards. Silva played Sterling into the box, and after beating his defender, Ryan Bennett, the latter pulled down Sterling to set up a penalty kick. Jesus stepped up and sent Rui Patricio the wrong way for a 2-0 lead.
[ MORE: Full lineups, stats, box score ]
The second half was more of the same, with Man City dominating possession, holding the ball for 75 percent of the time while looking for another goal. Once de Bruyne was brought on for David Silva, a new attacking dimension was added. It ended up leading to Man City’s third goal of the night, as defender Conor Coady turned in a darting cross from de Bruyne in the 78th minute.
