The Tim Spiers debrief – Wolves 1 Manchester City 1
What an enjoyable afternoon was had by all at Molineux on Saturday.
In front of a huge global audience Wolves did themselves proud – and hinted what they could be capable of this season.
Kudos Nuno
Most managers would have come up with a different approach, parked the bus, or perhaps sacrificed their principles, when faced with the prospect of trying to stop one of the world's best teams. Most managers aren't Nuno Espirito Santo.
Not only did Nuno stick with the same formation and the same bold approach despite the standard of opposition – he also stuck with the same team that had been beaten 2-0 at Leicester.
In doing so he resisted the temptation to start with Adama Traore – who had done more in 45 minutes at the King Power Stadium than Helder Costa and Diogo Jota had managed between them in the opening two matches.
He also chose not to bring in the defensive protection of Romain Saiss, despite having conceded four goals in two games.
All his decisions were wholly vindicated.
Yes Wolves rode their luck – City hit the woodwork three times and Wolves' goal was wrong twice in being a handball from an offside position – but that same fortune had deserted them at Leicester when they were arguably the better team and comfortably lost.
Swapping Costa for Traore would have been an easy – and logical – switch to make but Nuno trusted Costa to harrass and harry the City back line, as did Jota and Raul Jimenez in what was a key part of the game-plan, to stop City building from the back.
Costa did just that – defending from the front but also supporting Matt Doherty and could even be seen near his own corner flag helping out.
It was aggressive defending from Costa – and the whole team. He's known for his flair and ability but Ruben Neves put in more tackles than anyone on the pitch.
Aggression was a key characteristic of their attacks too. They broke at pace and in big numbers, neutralising Mendy and Kyle Walker and isolating a vulnerable Vincent Kompany whenever possible.
It was a bold and whole-hearted approach, which paid off. Wolves are two and a bit weeks into their Premier League life – but they've shown their top flight counterparts how to take City (whose matchday 18 was worth £600million) on.
Kudos to Nuno for that. While Neves & Co are announcing themselves on the Premier League stage, so too is Wolves' head coach.
Scoring first
Nuno stated in the build-up the importance of Wolves scoring first again.
They made an unbeatable habit last year of scoring first and either winning (30 times) or drawing (three times), yet this season had conceded first in both games and failed to win either.
Boly duly handed (am I right) Wolves the initiative and their record of never losing under Nuno after scoring first remains intact.
It wasn't just that which felt reminiscent of 2017/18 though – much of their excellent performance harked back to last season, be it their organised defence making precious few mistakes, their midfield screening the back line and starting umpteen attacks or their forwards making darting runs and causing the opposition no end of problems.
Wolves mustered 11 shots. Only three teams managed at least that many against City last season, who were only prevented from winning on six occasions in the league...from 38 games.
Whatever way you look at it, this was a thoroughly impressive performance and result.
After being anxious against Everton and unlucky against Leicester, there may have been fears Wolves couldn't cut it at this level.
They showed on Saturday, against the best team in the land, that they're surely here to stay – and Vincent Kompany's remark that Wolves may actually do City a few favours in the title race by taking points from their rivals is praise as high as it comes.
Bullish back line
There was so much to admire about this performance, but much of the credit must go to the brutish and bullish back three who worked their proverbials off to deny City as much as they could.
Ryan Bennett continued his excellent start to the season and more than held his own against Raheem Sterling.
Conor Coady was back to his best in sweeping up those loose balls in the box and keeping a close eye on Sergio Aguero (England call-up, anyone?).
And then there's Willy Boly. A tweet doing the rounds from a City fan yesterday compared him to a young version of Kompany...praise doesn't come much higher than that and of the two defenders it was Boly who looked the more accomplished on Saturday.
The trio were given excellent protection by Matt Doherty – who deserves praise for recovering from last weekend to put in a solid display – and Jonny Castro Otto who has taken to the Premier League like randy Yorkshire Terriers to a postman convention.
And in front of them Neves and Joao Moutinho were disciplined and organised in the extreme.
Magic Moutinho
In fact Moutinho outshone just about everyone on the pitch with the kind of performance fans were hoping they'd get when the 31-year-old arrived from Monaco armed with his 113 Portugal caps.
He ran the show in midfield with a display that was so composed and stress-free it could have been sponsored by Kalms.
Moutinho, of course, wasn't fazed one bit by facing the might of Man City. He's been there, done it and bought the t-shirt that reads "I'm Joao Moutinho, I've played at a very high level for many years".
If Coady organises the back three then Moutinho has got it covered in midfield – he'll help those around him, including of course Neves who will benefit hugely from Moutinho's presence. And he'll do so with a minimum of fuss.
The £5m deal that brought him to Molineux could be the bargain of the season (at the moment that's the free transfer of Rui Patricio, with free being the operative word).
Set pieces
It feels churlish to have a moan after that performance but it's got to be said, Wolves' zonal marking from set pieces leaves plenty to be desired.
That's two goals conceded from free kicks in three games, with Willy Boly half a second too slow reacting to both.
After all that hard work stopping City from slicing through them in open play, Nuno will have been mortified to be denied a famous victory by conceding from a basic set piece (albeit Laporte's header was a bullet).
Improvements are definitely needed if this isn't to become a recurring problem.
Anyway, let's end on a positive – Wolves were bloody brilliant.
Final word
Star man: Joao Moutinho
The boss: Outsmarted Pep (again)
Fans: Loved it
Magic moment: Carl Ikeme on the pitch pre-match
In a word: Impressive
Picture perfect:
