New Telegraph

EPL: Man City hold off Wolves fightback to make winning start

*As Villa narrowly beat 10-man Sheffield United

Manchester City held off a second-half Wolves fightback to begin their quest to regain the Premier League title with a win at Molineux.
City did the damage in a superb first half as Professional Footballers’ Association Player of the Year Kevin de Bruyne and Phil Foden, playing for the first time since being sent home from England duty in disgrace, both found the net, reports the BBC.
At that stage it seemed a case of how many the visitors would get, with Foden and Raheem Sterling both going close and Wolves keeper Rui Patricio making two decent saves.
However, City ran out of steam after the break.
Daniel Podence twice went close for the hosts and Kyle Walker hacked a scuffed Ruben Neves shot off the line, before Raul Jimenez, scorer of 27 goals last season, netted for the second time in this one 12 minutes from time.
However, Wolves were unable to repeat last term’s exploits, when they came back from 2-0 down to win this fixture, and Gabriel Jesus’ injury-time effort sealed victory for Pep Guardiola’s side.
And in the first game of the evening, Ezri Konsa’s second-half header proved decisive as Aston Villa overcame a resilient performance by Sheffield United, who played for 78 minutes with 10 men after the early dismissal of John Egan.
Konsa headed in fellow defender Tyrone Mings’ flick-on in the 63rd minute after Matt Targett whipped a corner in from the left.
Villa put United under pressure for long spells after visiting captain Egan was sent off for denying a clear goalscoring opportunity in a tussle with Ollie Watkins in the 12th minute.
But the Blades missed a golden opportunity to score the opener after half an hour when John Lundstram was denied from the penalty spot by Villa debutant Emiliano Martinez, after a lengthy VAR review showed Targett had clipped Chris Basham in the box.
United regrouped and were solid in defence – clearing numerous crosses and presenting a threat on the break – but could not hold out to earn a share of the points.
RESULTS
Wolves 1 – 2 Man City
W’Ham 1 – 0 Sheffield Utd

Read Previous

COVID-19 deaths hit 1,100 in Nigeria

Read Next

Djokovic takes Rome title, all eyes on French Open Covid tests

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *