Monday Match Centre: Wolves v. Manchester City

Full Time: Two wins out of two for Mancini. 5 goals, none conceded. Mancini must be thinking that this Premier League gig is an easy one. Truth be told, 3-0 is incredibly flattering for City, as Wolves were up for the challenge until they went 2-0 down. Mick McCarthy won’t be happy to leave his fans empty-handed, but Wolves did all they could on the night. Tevez had the brace, and his exuberant class was apparent as his constant pressure was able to match the Wolves’ intensity.

90º Four Minutes of Added Time. And Sylvinho is on for Tevez. Robinho with a great effort that curled just over Hahnemann’s far post.

89º Three points sealed for City at this point. Tevez almost finishes his hat-trick as Bellamy bursts down the left flanks to set him up from 8 yards out. Wolves do well to push Tevez off the ball though.

87º GOAL!!! Wolves 0 - 3 Manchester City!!! Tevez gets his second and Robinho makes an immediate impact by setting him up. Robinho picked out Tevez from the right flank, and Tevez did well to pick his spot with a low, left-footed blast past Hahnemann.

85º Petrov, after a spectacular volleying effort, comes off for Robinho.

84º Mick McCarthy is livid, the fans are livid, the players are livid, but Robert Mancini is in a jubilant mood with a few minutes to go.

82º Wonderful Counter by City! Petrov plays a lovely 40 yard pass to Bellamy, who lays it first time to Tevez behind the Wolves back-line. Tevez tries to top the sequence off by chipping Hahnemann, but his effort just goes wide.

81º Wolves counter and win a corner. Open play results, and Zubar’s long-range effort is deflected out for a corner.

79º Foley is coming off for Matthew Jarvis. 10 minutes left, and McCarthy needs a miracle to get anything from this game.

75º Tevez shown a yellow card for dissent. Wolves waste an excellent free-kick opportunity.

73º City on top at the moment. Kevin Doyle is now coming off for Sylvain Ebanks-Blake. Doyle should be proud of his effort.

70º Hahnemann is shown a yellow card for unsporting conduct.

69º GOAL!!! Wolves 0 - 2 Manchester City!!! And it’s not Tevez, but rather the supersub Garrido with a superb left-footed effort that beats Hahnemann at his near post. Mancini shows a wry smile, he looks like a tactical genius at the moment.

68º Mancienne clatters into Gareth Barry and is shown the yellow card for a challenge from 23 yards outside the Wolves’ goal. This is Tevez range.

65º Manchester City now doing well to possess and quiet the Wolves fans. Actually they’re just possessing, these fans won’t quiet down.

63º Kevin Doyle proving his class as he beat Kolo Toure down the left flank and got a shot in from close range on Shay Given. Given did well to parry the effort, the save was probably a bit lucky (not to take anything away from the Irishman).

61º Garrido swings in a cross from the left corner, but Hahnemann does well again to tame the City attack.

57º Tevez rushes down the left-flank and tries to curl an effort past Hahnemann, but the American keeper holds it easily.

55º Ireland off for Javier Garrido. This is only his second appearance in the Premier League for Manchester City this season.

54º Elokobi does well to clear a deflected City cross at the 11th hour as Bellamy was rushing on rampantly.

51º Bellamy caught offside by a country mile, but he’s happy to argue about it. Wolves find themselves with an excellent free-kick opportunity. Foley swings and misses on his volley attempt from Elokobi’s perfectly weighted cross.

49º Bellamy finds himself with another golden chance, going one on with Hahnemann. He scuffs it wide with a toe poke though. Wolves counter with a quick passing sequence that Iwelumo ends with a shot just over the crossbar. He went for placement, nearing finding the top-left corner.

48º Henry given space, but he wastes the chance going high and wide from 25 yards. Couldn’t quite warp his foot around the ball.

46º And Christophe Berra has to be taken off because he has been diagnosed with a mild concussion. Richard Stearman replaces him.

Half-time: Manchester City are in the lead, but it must be said that it was because of quite a lucky break. Wolves have been playing admirable football, great passing from Mick McCarthy’s squad. Despite the score, Wolves supporters cheer their players off the field. Don’t even dare to count Wolves out of this. 1-0 is hardly safe for Roberto Mancini’s squadra.

45º 2 minutes of added time. Wolves pushing hard for an equalizer. Craig Bellamy takes down Berra, and sportingly tells the ref to stop play. The stretchers are on the field, and it looks like Berra is alright. The replay shows that Bellamy flipped him onto his neck.

44º Doyle’s hard work wins Wolves a corner. Elokobi has a great powerful header that Tevez flicks to the side of the Man City goal.

43º Tevez cleverly wins a corner for City. These are the types of chances for City to capitalize on. Hahnemann knocks it out for another corner. He collects it the next time.

40º City limited to counter-attack football at the moment, hardly what any Italian manager would like to see.

38º Wolves unlucky to be behind, and another good sequence of passing wins them yet another corner.

35º Zabaleta is shown a yellow card for a rough challenge on Zubar just outside of the box.

33º GOAL!!! Wolves 0 - 1 Manchester City!!! Craig Bellamy with an excellent dummy to beat his defender, and then lay it to Carlos Tevez. Tevez quickly struck it with his left foot, and the shot was deflected. Unfortunately for Wolves, the deflection went straight into Hahnemann’s net.

30º And Bellamy misses a sitter! Petrov hits a cross that meets Tevez, who then gives it Bellamy. Bellamy is given the ball from 6 yards out, but cranks it over the bar. Mancini winces then urges his team forward.

28º Tevez found space to try a long-range effort, but he scuffed it and it was never going on goal. Wolves counter and get a free-kick as Iwelemo is taken down by Zabaleta.

27º If you want to see proper English. end-to-end football, here it is folks. Physical play. Great Passing. It’s all here

26º Petrov wins Man City a corner. Petrov swings the corner in, but Wolves do well to clear it.

23º Tevez shows he is up for a physical game tonight as he plows into Berra.

22º Bellamy caught just marginally offside. I think the assistant referee got that one right.

20º Kyle Henry now defending courageously, playing like a true box-to-box midfielder.

19º Henry with an ambitious effort from 30 yards out. After finding a bit of room, Henry hit a low, but well-struck shot, and it was not easy Shay Given to hold.

17º Wolves with some excellent passing at the moment. I’m sure Mancini hasn’t had to face too many sides that put this type of pressure on his squad.

13º Bellamy is taken down by Berra with a push. Couldn’t tell if it was a foul at first, but the ref expertly sees Berra’s arm pushing Bellamy unfairly.

11º Defence is dominating so far, as Surman skies as effort from 25 yards about 25 yards over Shay Given’s goal.

9º The pitch is slick tonight, as Man City’s through-balls aren’t really going to work on the night.

6º Kompany is filling in at centre-back tonight, and he is forced early on to give Wolves a corner due to Kevin Doyle’s pressure.

4º Wolves setting the tempo early on. No real product besides pace and pressure. Kevin Doyle with a speculative left-footed effort that trickle’s wide.

1º And we’re off! A wet and cold night of Premier League action. De Jong starts off with an unnecessary bicycle kick. Nice to look at all the less.

Kickoff Analysis: Robinho is on the bench, as Bellamy is his replacement. Maybe Mancini figures Robinho won’t be able to deal with the physical play on hand tonight. Or he’s just trying to appease Craig Bellamy. Wolves have great confidence at home, and in all honesty they gave a courageous effort at Anfield two night ago. Man City are in better form than Liverpool, but surely Wolves will try to take something away from this.

Wolves v Man City line-ups:
Wolverhampton: Hahnemann, Zubar, Craddock, Berra, Elokobi, Foley, Henry, Mancienne, Surman, Iwelumo, Doyle.
Subs: Hennessey, Stearman, Ebanks-Blake, Jarvis, Milijas, Maierhofer, Castillo.
Man City: Given, Zabaleta, Toure, Kompany, Richards, Petrov, Ireland, De Jong, Barry, Bellamy, Tevez.
Subs: Taylor, Robinho, Garrido, Sylvinho, Vidal, Boyata, Weiss.
Referee: Mike Jones (Cheshire)

Pregame Coverage:

Manchester City boss Roberto Mancini: “I know Wolves well. They are a good team, Mick McCarthy is a good manager and I think today will be a hard match.”