Manchester City eased past Wolves thanks to a hat trick from Erling Haaland as they continue to hunt down Premier League leaders Arsenal.
FULL MATCH REPLAY
Haaland scored once in the first half and twice early in the second as City were superior from start to finish. Haaland’s treble (his fourth of the Premier League season) moves him on to 25 goals from just 19 PL appearances.
The win moves Pep Guardiola’s side on to 45 points for the season, while Wolves remain on 17 points and are only outside the relegation zone on goal difference.
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City smell blood in the water
Pep Guardiola’s incredible midweek rant appeared to have the desired impact as Man City looked hungry from the start and ready to deliver. Wolves sat back and made it pretty easy for City but this was like watching City from the past few seasons. They moved the ball quickly, got crosses into the box early and pinned Wolves in. Haaland’s heroics will steal the headlines, and rightly so, but the biggest plus for Guardiola is that he got his Manchester City back. His rant after their comeback win against Tottenham worked and we will now see how long that will last for as they hunt down Arsenal. Man City are sharks who are circling and can smell blood in the water. They have been the hunters so often in their title-winning campaigns and they almost prefer to be in this position so it keeps them firing on all cylinders and gets the best out of them.
Stars of the show
Erling Haaland: A treble and was always in the right areas to finish off chances.
Jack Grealish: Brilliant on the ball and kept City in control of the game.
What’s next?
Manchester City face Arsenal in the FA Cup fourth round on Friday Jan. 27, then head to Tottenham in the Premier League on Sunday Feb. 5. Wolves host Liverpool on Saturday, Feb. 4.
How to watch Manchester City vs Wolves live, stream link and start time
Kick off: 9 am ET, Sunday TV channel: USA Network Online: Stream via NBCSports.com
Oh, Ilkay. The German midfielder heads over at the back post when it was so much easier to score. He can’t believe it.
Mahrez has a goal disallowed for being just offside. Tidy finish. City easing to victory. Wolves in damage limitation mode.
Erling Haaland is subbed off after 60 minutes. He gets a standing ovation. His job is done.
GOALLL! Mahrez sets up Erling Haaland to tap home his third and complete his hat trick. Man City flying and 3-0 up. Haaland now has 25 goals for the season.
ANOTHER HAT-TRICK! 🎩 🎩 🎩
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 22, 2023
Erling Haaland just makes it look SO easy.#MCIWOL | #MyPLMorning
📺 @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/jsJOVIK1hU
Riyad Mahrez heads into the side-netting at the back post after good work from Jack Grealish. City smell blood in the water now.
GOALLLL! Erling Haaland slots home the penalty kick straight down the middle and that is his 24th goal of the season.
He. Can't. Be. Stopped.
— NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) January 22, 2023
Haaland extends Man City's lead with this PK. 😤#MCIWOL | #MyPLMorning
📺 @USA_Network pic.twitter.com/gMb2Jlaxi0
SECOND HALF is underway and we have a penalty kick to Manchester City right away. Ilkay Gundogan is clipped by Ruben Neves as he runs in-behind. No real complaints from Neves.
Wow. Almost 2-0 right on half time! Jack Grealish cuts inside on his right foot and his shot beats Jose Sa... but Nathan Collins is on the line to head clear. Great clearance. Great counter from City.
VAR check for a potential penalty kick for Man City as Nathan Collins catches Grealish late. After a quick look, nothing given.
GOALLLL! Manchester City lead as Rodri finds Mahrez out wide, he tees up Kevin de Bruyne to whip in a peach of a cross and Erling Haaland heads home at the back post. Peak 2022-23 Man City. 1-0 to the hosts. That was coming.
🔥 Erling Haaland with his 23rd Premier League goal of the season. It's January.
— Joe Prince-Wright (@JPW_NBCSports) January 22, 2023
Haaland has only played 19 times and he has already equalled the 23 Premier League goals the Golden Boot winners from the last season scored. Ridiculous. pic.twitter.com/5R8dqi97PZ
SAVE! Jose Sa denies Jack Grealish with a save down low. Man City are cranking through the gears now. Wolves dropping deeper and deeper.
CLOSE! Erling Haaland has a low shot and it is pushed away by Jose Sa. Man City clicking through the gears now.
After Ilkay Gundogan was down for lengthy treatment, the game kicks back off and Wolves are very upset. Hwang closes down Rico Lewis, who is the last man, and the two tussle with Hwang saying he was fouled. Julen Lopetegui is livid on the sidelines and he is booked for showing his frustration. It’s very chippy early on.
KICK OFF! Really lively start at the Etihad as tackles are flying in everywhere.
Key storylines & star players
Manchester City beat Tottenham 4-2 on Thursday to once again reduce the gap to five, but they had to erase a 2-0 halftime deficit to do so. After the game, Guardiola called out his players for perhaps being too comfortable as PL winners of four of the last five seasons. On a much more positive note, Ruben Dias made his return from an injury he suffered during the World Cup, offering an important boost for a side uncharacteristically allowing over a goal per game thus far (20 goals in 19 games).
Another Spaniard is enjoying some rather nice, early success at Wolves, where Julen Lopetegui took charge over the World Cup break. Since the Premier League returned on Boxing Day, Wolves have the same number of wins (two) in four games, as they did in their first 15 games. Beaten only by Manchester United (narrowly, and late on) during the current run, Wolves appear to be back to their defensive best, yet to concede multiple goals in a game under Lopetegui.
Manchester City team news, injuries, lineup
OUT: Benjamin Mendy (suspension - MORE)
🔵 𝘛𝘌𝘈𝘔 𝘕𝘌𝘞𝘚 🐺
— Manchester City (@ManCity) January 22, 2023
XI | Ederson, Lewis, Stones, Akanji, Laporte, Rodrigo, De Bruyne, Gundogan (C), Mahrez, Grealish, Haaland
SUBS | Ortega Moreno, Walker, Dias, Phillips, Ake, Cancelo, Alvarez, Bernardo, Palmer#ManCity | @HaysWorldwide pic.twitter.com/vezp0pqGMP
Wolves team news, injuries, lineup
OUT: Pedro Neto (ankle), Sasa Kalajdzic (torn ACL), Boubacar Traore (undisclosed), Chiquinho (knee)
🇬🇦 Lemina makes first start
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 22, 2023
💪 Raul and Adama in the XI
Here’s how we line-up to take on @ManCity.
🐺📋 @AstroPay_OK pic.twitter.com/TrSsiVgcBh