In the last round of the Premier League, Liverpool struggled to beat Wolves at Molinox Stadium with the second-reading kill of feng shui striker Origi, and struggled to get 3 points. In that game, Wolves' defense was impressive, the formation was compact, the style was tenacious, and defender Cody defused Liverpool's inevitable goals on the goal line twice, 1 point into 0 points, but it was too bad luck.
Killed in the final minute, Wolves didn't have time to sing the pain as they were about to visit the Etihad to challenge the leader Manchester City.
Any team in the Premier League against Manchester City will be tough, but Wolves are notoriously tough and if City want to win, the process won't be easy.
Sure enough, Manchester City's smooth ground coordination is limited to the periphery, but once it hits the hinterland, it will fall into the layers of Wolves' defense. No matter how hard Sterling, Jesus, Bernardo Silva and Glalis tried, they couldn't break Wolves' iron barrel formation.
How tenacious is Wolves' defense? Before the end of the first half, Wolves injured 3 people, but the players still fought with injuries, without any timidity, such hardness and attitude, naturally lamentable.
However, the balance of the game was inadvertently broken before half-time, and Wolves main center Jimenez was shown a yellow card for a foul on Rodri in half-time, and he was then sent off for blocking Rodri's free-kick and receiving a second yellow card.
It was a bonus, City unexpectedly gained a numerical advantage, but even so, City were unable to break through Wolves' goal. Gundogan's close-range flick of the goal had already crossed the block of Wolves goalkeeper Ronald Sa, but just as the ball was about to cross the goal line, it was pushed out by Cody.
Unable to break the deadlock, Guardiola had to go for a change of player, and Foden replaced Gundogan to play a single back. Wolves' defence finally cracked under City's overwhelming attack, with Bernardo Silva's pass causing national teammate Moutinho to foul his handball and was awarded a penalty, despite Moutinho's best defense, he could not change the penalty.
Sterling easily pushed the middle of the road and City finally broke the deadlock with their numerical superiority and penalties. A few minutes later, Sterling broke through the cross from the right and Glelles fired an anti-aircraft cannon at the back post, kicking the chance that should have sealed the victory.
The 1-0 score was maintained until the end of the game, the Blue Moon Army in their own home field 23 shots, 10 feet on target, control more than 70% of the possession rate, but can only through the penalty to break the deadlock, the difficulty of the game can be imagined.
City's only takeaway was to score three points, continue to lead the table and hold their ground before the Christmas schedule began.
Manchester City's problem is still in the front, the only available centre-forward Ferran Torres has been resting for almost 2 months, although Guardiola likes the frontless team, but the frontless team is not the right way after all, Manchester City has repeatedly overturned in the Champions League, and the culprit is the weakness of the front. With the winter window just around the corner, Guardiola's top priority is to find a centre-forward with a steady output, focus on winning Kane, and maybe there is hope for the Champions League this season.
Victory, not enough joy, but not enough joy! Guardiola has put the Blues' defence and midfielder at the top, but the problem of the front has never been solved.
When he first arrived at the Etihad, Guardiola originally wanted to take Aguero, but the Jesus he had brought in was too overwhelmed to play in the center position and had to give up. Now, after Aguero's departure, City's attack can only rely on the midfield attack group to support.
However, Sterling scored 100 Premier League goals, Ederson completed the 100th clean sheet of Manchester City's career, and Manchester City won his 32nd Premier League victory in 2021 (second only to the record 33 set by Liverpool in 1982).