Manchester City ended their four-game winless run in the Premier League with a controlled 2-0 victory over bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers at the Etihad Stadium, first-half goals from Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo easing the tension after a bruising start to 2026.
Pep Guardiola's side had been outplayed by Manchester United last weekend and suffered a shock Champions League defeat at Bodo/Glimt in midweek, while Wolves arrived in Manchester on the back of an unbeaten five-game sequence in all competitions despite sitting rock bottom and 14 points adrift of safety. This meeting between a wounded heavyweight and a revived underdog also produced one of the season's most talked-about VAR incidents, as debutant referee Farai Hallam stood by his on-field decision not to award City a first-half penalty after being sent to the monitor.
Guardiola's bold selections spark immediate response
Pre-match attention centred on Guardiola's team sheet. Erling Haaland, with just one goal in his previous eight appearances and no strike from open play in his last seven league outings, was dropped to the bench for the first time for form reasons, as was Phil Foden after starting 19 successive Premier League games. In their places came Marmoush and Bernardo Silva, while January signing Antoine Semenyo returned on the right, Marc Guéhi made his debut at centre-back and former Wolves favourite Matheus Nunes was deployed at right-back against the club whose fans loudly jeered his every touch.