Wolves were on the receiving end of some Kevin De Bruyne brilliance at the Etihad on Friday night, with Vitor Pereira’s six-match winning streak coming to an end.
It was the first time Wolves had lost in the Premier League since February, when Fulham secured a 2-1 win at Molineux.
But even during their defeat, Vitor Pereira’s men still showed promise throughout, as Emmanuel Agbadou was phenomenal once more and Rayan Ait-Nouri was electric down the left flank.
Ahead of the game, Pep Guardiola praised Wolves, predicting it would be a tough assignment for his Man City side as he relied on a Kevin De Bruyne finish to win the game.
De Bruyne ran the show against the Old Gold and has now showered praise on his opponents after a battling 90 minutes.
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Kevin De Bruyne admitted it was a tough game against Wolves
The Belgian netted his sixth career goal against Wolves on Friday night, which means he’s now scored more goals in meetings with Arsenal (8).
Wolves hate playing against the world-class playmaker, who is often the difference in these matches, yet the 33-year-old also praised his opponents for how difficult they made it for them.
“I think [it was] a pretty hard game today,” he said via Man City’s official website. “Even in the season that we won these kind of tough games, you just need to find a way to win. I think we did that.
“It’s pretty important. Now we can enjoy the weekend and see what the other teams are doing.
“Obviously, it’s good if you put pressure on the rest. I think also we know that other teams have to play each other a little bit. So we can just relax for the weekend and get ready for next week. We found a way in the end.”
Vitor Pereira impressed with Wolves against Man City
Pereira has transformed Wolves’ fortunes since replacing Gary O’Neil in December, dragging them from the threat of relegation up to 13th.
Remarkably, Wolves would have survived in the Premier League if they started on zero points when the Portuguese took over as manager, telling of the brilliant job he’s done.
He’s also instilled a belief and togetherness into the squad that hasn’t been seen for years, and despite losing on Friday night, he was proud of how his players conducted themselves.
“I said to my team before the game that we can lose the game, but we cannot lose our identity, cannot lose our spirit, we cannot lose our ambition, and we must show this ambition, these qualities on the pitch,” Pereira said.
“I like when my team plays with our work, the work that we do every day, and sometimes we’ve won games, but it was not the best game. I remember at Manchester United, we didn’t play in our level, but today it was just missing the result.”
Wolves will look back on this defeat as a missed opportunity, with Jean-Ricner Bellegarde spurning a golden chance that could have changed the direction of the result.