Wolves visited Manchester City on Friday intending to build on their six successive Premier League wins.
The Gold started the game well, in truth, setting on Man City with some dangerous counter attacks and were unfortunate not to score.
First, Jean-Ricner Bellegarde spurned a golden opportunity when clean through on goal, messing up his pass to Marshall Munetsi instead of having a shot himself.
Rayan Ait-Nouri then hit the post after the ball fell to him in the box. Sadly, Wolves were punished for those early missed opportunities as Kevin De Bruyne rifled his attempt past Jose Sa.
Wolves did huff and puff in the second stanza as they attempted to find an equaliser, but Pep Guardiola ultimately condemned Vitor Pereira to his first defeat in nine matches.
Here’s how the players rated.
Wolves player ratings vs Man City
Jose Sa – 6
A brilliant save to deny Nico O’Reilly in the first half, but couldn’t do anything about De Bruyne’s strike. Truthfully, he didn’t have a great deal to do apart from that, though his distribution could have been better.
Matt Doherty – 5.5
Doherty was turned inside out by Doku for City’s goal and needed help to defend against the Belgian. But, aside from that, the Republic of Ireland defender was solid as usual in his centre-back role.
Emmanuel Agbadou – 8
Another excellent performance from Agbadou. The Ivorian is so comfortable in possession and is never afraid to carry the ball out from the back. He also flexed his wonderful passing range with some brilliant lofted balls.
Toti Gomes – 6.5
Kept it simple at the back for Wolves and dealt with the threat of Omar Marmoush well. All you could ask from someone who has improved immensely under Pereira.
Nelson Semedo – 5
Semedo had a tough night up against O’Reilly and Doku, who overloaded his side and made it difficult for him to defend. He didn’t really have much of an impact going forward, too, with an onus on defending.
Andre – 6.5
Wolves fans witnessed a collector’s item at the Etihad as Andre’s misplaced pass ended up costing his team, and that was unlike him. That was a rare error from the Brazilian, who was tidy in possession aside from that mistake.
Joao Gomes – 7
A typical performance from Gomes, who was a ball-winning machine for Wolves in the middle of the park, continuing his excellent partnership alongside Andre.
Rayan Ait-Nouri – 8
Ait-Nouri was incredible once more down the left. He was unfortunate to strike the post in the first half after the ball dropped to him and was a constant threat going forward.
Marshall Munetsi – 4
Munetsi’s lack of technical quality was exposed against City. The midfielder pressed well and offered an abundance of energy, as usual, but the 28-year-old didn’t offer much in possession.
Jean-Ricner Bellegarde – 4
Missed a golden chance in the first half after being played through by Cunha. He overhit his pass to Munetsi instead of shooting, and that proved costly when De Bruyne converted his opportunity.
Matheus Cunha – 7
Cunha wasn’t as influential as he’s been in recent weeks. The attacker was threatening in spells, but ghosted in and out of the game too much. He did, however, nearly scored in the second half after his shot from range in the post.
Substitutes
Rodrigo Gomes – 5
Came off the bench with the tough assignment of dealing with Doku, and the 21-year-old was put under immense pressure by the Belgian.
Pablo Sarabia – 5.5
Has been a super-sub for Wolves recently but it was going to be difficult for him to become the hero once more here, and didn’t really get into the game.
Goncalo Guedes – 5.5
Only came on for the final 10 minutes, so didn’t have much time to get into the game but did produce one teasing cross.