Gutsy Wolves stunned Manchester City to pull off a shock 2-1 win and end the champions’ winning run, with Hwang Hee-chan’s second-half winner earning the hosts a brilliant battling victory at Molineux.
Julian Alvarez’s free-kick cancelled out Ruben Dias’ early own goal but Pep Guardiola’s side were unable to find a way back from Hwang’s strike.
They were aiming to win their first seven Premier League games for the first time but instead were beaten by a combative and fired-up Wolves.
Defeat puts a fresh spin on next Sunday’s trip to Arsenal, with the Gunners now a point behind the leaders, after Wednesday’s Champions League game at RB Leipzig.
For Wolves boss Gary O’Neil it represents vindication for his methods, with the manager having come under early fire this season.
Few, though, would have expected the result to come against City.
Erling Haaland went close to Matheus Nunes’ cross as, predictably, the visitors dominated early but found Wolves tough to break down.
Nunes was the obvious pantomime villain, having effectively gone on strike to force his eventual #53million deadline-day move to City from Wolves.
So there was even more delight from the home fans when Wolves stunned Guardiola’s men after 13 minutes.
Mateo Kovacic’s loose pass hit Phil Foden which allowed Pedro Neto to seize on the mistake and tear past Nathan Ake.
He powered his way down the right, avoiding Ake’s desperate lunge, to race into the area and Dias deflected his cross past Ederson from close range.
Neto remains Wolves’ man of the moment, their spark, having given Liverpool nightmares two weeks ago and scored in the 1-1 draw at Luton, but Wolves had been in this position before and faltered.
They faded badly after a fine first half against Liverpool to lose and a promising display on O’Neil’s debut at Manchester United yielded nothing.
Wolves needed results to back up their grit and determination but Rayan Ait-Nouri gifted Foden a way through in a sloppy moment to underline the fragile nature of their lead. (RTE)
