Wolves complete remarkable comeback to beat 10-man Manchester City in five goal thriller
Wolves climb up to fifth in the Premier League after coming back from 2-0 down to beat 10-man Manchester City 3-2 after VAR wreaked havoc in the first half at Molineux.
City were down to 10-men after just 12 minutes when Ederson took Diogo Jota out when through one-on-one, but the away side took a shock lead after two contentious VAR reviews.
The first awarded Pep Guardiola’s side a penalty when Riyad Mahrez was judged to have been brought down inside the box after minimal contact, before Raheem Sterling stepped up and saw his effort saved by Rui Patricio.
The video assistant referee then ordered the spot kick to be retaken because of encroachment, Sterling again saw his effort saved, but was able to tap in the rebound and put City 1-0 up.
Sterling doubled City’s advantage five minutes into the second half with a delightful chip, before Adama Traore thundered one into the post and in to make it 2-1.
Raul Jimenez pulled the hosts level eight minutes from time after a Benjamin Mendy error before Matt Doherty completed their unbelievable comeback curling into the bottom corner past Bravo.
Wolves move up to fifth with the win, while City remain in third, 14 points behind league leaders Liverpool.
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Despite a trip to Liverpool looming in less than 48 hours, Nuno Espirito Santo named the same side which won at Norwich on Saturday.
Pep Guardiola made two changes from their win against Leicester City. Sergio Aguero made his first start since 23 November after Gabriel Jesus was ruled out through illness, while Rodri was recalled in place of Ilkay Gundogan.
City were down to 10 men in the 12th minute when Ederson was shown a straight red card for bringing down Diogo Jota who was through one-on-one.
He latched onto a long ball, flicked it over the on-rushing keeper and was clipped by the Brazilian outside the box on his way past.
Aguero was sacrificed and subbed off for number two Claudio Bravo.
Ten minutes later though and the 10-men of City were awarded a penalty. After a lengthy VAR check referee Martin Atkinson saw his decision overturned when Riyad Mahrez took a tumble inside the area despite very minimal contact.
Raheem Sterling stepped up and saw his effort brilliantly saved by Rui Patricio, but after another VAR check, the penalty was ordered to be retaken due to encroachment.
Sterling saw his penalty saved once again by Patricio, but this time he was able to tap in the rebound and City were in front.
After the goal Atkinson handed something over to fourth official Andre Marriner that was thrown from the Wolves end behind Patricio's goal at the celebrating City players.
An announcement was made inside the stadium which said 'numerous instances of objects being thrown have been seen' and that CCTV will be used to prosecute offenders.
Sterling doubled City’s lead five minutes after the restart. Kevin de Bruyne played him in with a splitting through ball and the 25-year-old kept his cool and chipped Patricio as he came off his line.
Wolves hit back in the 55th minute after Sterling gave the ball away in his own half.
The ball was played wide to Adama Traore who hit it early off the post and in from just outside the box.
With City starting to tire Traore was looking to pull Wolves level. He cut in from the right and with a yard of space he let fly from the edge of the area, he connected well but it was straight at Bravo.
Romain Saiss came inches to finding the equaliser with 15 minutes left on the clock, rising highest to meet Joao Moutinho’s free-kick, but his brilliant header was just wide.
Raul Jimenez made it 2-2 with eight minutes to play after Mendy dithered on the ball, allowing Traore to steal it from him and square it to the Mexican striker to poke home.
Molinuex erupted as Matt Doherty completed the turnaround.
He slalomed through midfield, linked up with Jimenez on the edge of the box and curled it past Bravo into the bottom left corner.
Sterling rattled the crossbar in the third minute of injury time, but Wolves held on to win 3-2 and move up to fifth in the table.
Manchester City’s title hopes took another huge dent as they failed to keep up with league leaders Liverpool, who remain 14 points above Guardiola’s side with a game in hand.
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