Manchester City 3 Wolves 1

Valiant Wolves pushed 10-man Manchester City hard in a display which would have beaten many teams.

Wolves goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey turned from hero to villain, being at fault in the build-up to Edin Dzeko's 52nd minute opener and Aleksandar Kolarov's 67th minute effort, which made it 2-0 ,after making three superb saves in the first-half.

Stephen Hunt's 75th minute penalty gave Wolves hope, especially as City had captain Vincent Kompany sent off for its award for bringing down Kevin Doyle.

But City extinguished any comeback hopes for Wolves – who had brought on axed duo Sylvan Ebanks-Blake and Matt Jarvis late on to force the issue - when substitute Adam Johnson curled home their third a minute into stoppage time.

Predictably, City dominated but they had nothing to show for their efforts at half-time after a goalless first 45 minutes.

For that Wolves had to thank Hennessey, who pulled off three super saves to deny the club he served as a trainee.

The Wales international was in action after just 70 seconds to tip over a volley from Samir Nasri.

Then Hennessey produced a superb one-handed stop to foil City, when Nasri let fly with an angled drive from 20 yards in the 23rd minute.

His third major save came four minutes from the break and was just as breathtaking, standing up to block after Dzeko had been put clean through by David Silva.

But Wolves lived dangerously and benefitted from a horrible miss from Sergio Aguero on 25, spooning wide from point-blank range.

Appeals for a City penalty were waved aside 10 minutes later for Richard Stearman's challenge on Dzeko, as both challenged for Nasri's cross, before a much-improved Roger Johnson blocked from Silva's follow-up at the far post.

Wolves' only chance of the first-half actually came from a City mistake, when Micah Richards lost control of the ball and Hunt fed Doyle for a left-foot shot, dragging well wide when he might have done better.

After a superb display of goalkeeping, the goal that saw City break the deadlock seven minutes after the break was unfortunate on Hennessey.

Under little pressure initially, the goalkeeper took an extra touch, only to see his clearance charged down by Aguero, leaving Dzeko the easy task of firing into an empty net.

Fifteen minutes later, it was 2-0, when Hennessey failed to hold Silva's curling shot and Kolarov bundled home.

Wolves, who had trailed by 2-0 in each of the previous six league games, continued to battle in typical style and gave themselves a lifeline with Hunt's 74th minute penalty.

Kompany was sent off for dragging down Doyle as they challenged for the rebound from Adlene Guedioura's shot, that was parried by Joe Hart.

With an extra man, Wolves came more into the game and McCarthy made a double attacking substitution in the 85th minute, bringing on Ebanks-Blake and Jarvis for Hunt and Guedioura.

But, despite plenty of possession, Wolves couldn't force another breakthrough.

Ebanks-Blake and Jarvis were two of three changes McCarthy made from the side that drew 2-2 with Swansea last Saturday.

Adam Hammill, Jarvis and Ebanks-Blake made way for Edwards, Guedioura and Hunt as McCarthy switched to a 4-4-1-1 formation, with O'Hara supporting lone frontman Doyle.

Wolves suffered their sixth defeat in seven, making it one point out of the last 21 in the Premier League.

But their performance was one which offered plenty of hope for the tough battles ahead and they remain out of the drop zone in fourth bottom, before next Sunday's potentially huge home clash against Wigan.