Manchester City 4 Wolves 3

Spirited Wolves pushed moneybags Manchester City all the way in a seven-goal thriller at Eastlands.

Mick McCarthy's side came from 4-1 down to 4-3 and were the dominant side at the death, when substitute Geoffrey Mujangi Bia's shot was deflected inches wide and Christophe Berra was pushed forward as an emergency striker.

Wolves burst from the blocks and after taking a 12th minute lead through Nenad Milijas, McCarthy's side went on to control the first half an hour.

But a David Jones own goal equalised five minutes before the break and three goals in 17 minutes from the superb Carlos Tevez, with two, and Yaya Toure saw Wolves trail 4-1.

However, that was before Kevin Doyle's 68th minute penalty and Ronald Zubar's 85th minute header reduced the arrears.

McCarthy made three changes to the side that drew 2-2 at Doncaster in the FA Cup.

Zubar, Jones and Doyle replaced Matt Doherty, the injured David Edwards and George Elokobi, who started a three-match ban for his dismissal at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Kevin Foley's ankle injury kept him out of the second game running.

Wolves started brightly and Steven Fletcher found himself clean through in the inside left position after a superb pass from Milijas.

But the club-record signing blazed his effort well over with Doyle screaming for the cross.

In pouring rain, the visitors continued to look the slicker outfit and Matt Jarvis had a goalbound shot blocked by Gareth Barry.

Wolves had to be alert when City broke and Berra did superbly to cut out a pass from one-time Molineux target Adam Johnson that threatened to leave £27million debutant Edin Dzeko clean through.

But the visitors were well in the ascendancy and took a 12th minute lead that City could not complain the visitors deserved.

Jarvis crossed from the right and Kolo Toure's air shot allowed Milijas the chance to stab home from point-blank range for his second goal in as many weeks, as City stood and watched.

It was the first goal City had conceded in the Premier League for exactly 300 minutes and it almost got worse for them before they got better.

The unmarked Milijas then headed straight at goalkeeper Joe Hart, as City continued to look wobbly at the back.

Jones almost grabbed a second goal only to see his sidefooted effort blocked by the flying Aleksandar Kolarov.

City were completely out of the game for the first half an hour, but they gradually got going and Johnson nearly found a way through with a low shot that goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey blocked with his right leg.

Tevez curled effort over and the home side's improvement saw them level five minutes before the break.

Kolo Toure crept around the back, seemingly unnoticed to latch onto Johnson's deep corner and his fierce low drive was diverted in off the foot of Jones, the ball just squeezing over the line.

Wolves made the worst possible start to the second half after conceding in the 49th minute.

There seemed little on when Tevez took a short pass from the right wing.

But the City striker embarked on a mazy dribble that took him past poor challenges from Berra, Richard Stearman and Stephen Hunt before calmly slotting under Hennessey.

Two minutes later, the home side appeared to make the game safe when Yaya Toure's 40-yard run through the centre was superbly picked out by Tevez for his second goal.

Typically, Wolves continued to give everything and man of the match Zubar smacked a firm header against the bar from Jarvis' 57th minute corner.

But, after a deflection saw Dzeko was inches away from a debut goal, City hammered home their advantage with a fourth goal in the 66th minute when Tevez headed in off the bar from Pablo Zabaleta's cross.

Wolves were determined not to go down without a fight however and Doyle drilled home a 68th minute penalty for his second goal of the season, after he was pushed from behind by substitute and ex-Molineux favourite Joleon Lescott.

City were denied a fifth goal and Yaya Toure a second seven minutes from time when Berra got a foot to the midfielder's shot, after the defender's mistake on halfway left him in the clear.

Wolves gave City a scare by making it 4-3 five minutes from time when Zubar's header just crept over the line from Mujangi Bia's corner.

It was City who were hanging on in the five minutes' injury-time however and Mujangi Bia almost snatched an unlikely equaliser with a deflected shot that flew inches wide.

But Roberto Mancini's multi-millionaires hung to go top, while defeat for Wolves pushed them back into the relegation zone.

More performances like this though and they will soon be out of trouble.