Whether Manchester City restore their powers as the Premier League’s formidable force after a summer of change remains one of the great unknowns but for Pep Guardiola the early evidence in victory at Wolves was supremely encouraging.
The substitute Rayan Cherki, a summer signing from Lyon, capped the scoring within eight minutes of entering and Tijanni Reijnders, another one of those pinpointed to drive the close-season makeover, was peerless on debut; the Netherlands midfielder was the architect for Erling Haaland’s double, which bookended Reijnders’s first City goal, a feathery first-time finish. “City are back,” crooned the away support and, by the end, it was hard to argue otherwise.
After a stodgy start, City established a comfortable buffer after registering two goals inside three first-half minutes. Reijnders is tall and lean and his powerful run was the catalyst for the opener, sidestepping the tigerish João Gomes before scooping a smart ball into Rico Lewis, the full-back wanted by Nottingham Forest, who instantly squared for Haaland.
City’s No 9 could not miss from a couple of yards out, applying the finish with just his sixth touch. It was a slick move but the second stemmed from a loose Emmanuel Agbadou pass, meant for João Gomes. Oscar Bobb pinched possession and suddenly it was three v two, Haaland to his right, Reijnders to his left. Bobb slipped in Reijnders and he caressed the ball low into the bottom corner past the Wolves goalkeeper José Sá.
The galling thing for Wolves, for whom this was a demoralising result to match the mood music at Molineux, was that City’s goals came just as it seemed Vítor Pereira’s side were asserting their authority. Marshall Munetsi saw a header ruled out for offside, seconds after John Stones made a brilliant block to deny Jørgen Strand Larsen.
Strand Larsen, Norway teammates with Haaland, side-footed a shot past a post inside a minute of the restart, then thrashed a shot at goal under pressure from the former Wolves defender Rayan Aït-Nouri, one of three new faces in City’s starting lineup, but James Trafford, who started in goal with Ederson absent, impressed on debut.
This was an emotionally supercharged occasion for Wolves, who paid tribute to Diogo Jota with a moving pre-match tribute. It was a surreal sight to see the entire ground glued to the big screens as a montage played 15 minutes before kick-off. There was a giant tifo of Jota celebrating in old gold stretched across the South Bank and the speakers played Jota’s favourite song, Sting’s Fields of Gold. Sá and Matt Doherty both played with Jota, the former at international level. Rui Fuste, Wolves’s long-serving head of medical, attended both Jota’s wedding and his funeral 13 days later. Wolves supporters sang Jota’s name throughout, including during seven minutes of second-half stoppage time.
Haaland had eliminated faint hopes of a Wolves comeback at 2-0 just after the hour. Reijnders controlled a long Trafford kick close to halfway and pressed forward with the ball. Then, after a give and go with Bobb, Reijnders showed awareness to cut the ball back for Haaland just inside the box.
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This time Haaland still had work to do but he cannoned a powerful shot low under Sa. It was another cute move but Cherki’s strike was perhaps the pick of the bunch. Cherki, who turns 22 on Sunday, backheeled the ball, played a one-two with Nico O’Reilly and threaded a low shot into the bottom corner.
