Wolves boss Bruno Lage: Raul Jimenez will learn from red card mistake

After a solid defensive performance Wolves were set to enter half-time at 0-0 and in good spirits until Jimenez received two rapid yellow cards for a foul and then attempting to block the resulting free-kick.

Referee Jon Moss dismissed the striker who left his side with a mountain to climb with 10 men.

And head coach Lage says Jimenez is aware of his mistake and will learn from it.

Lage said: “He knows he cannot do that.

“He took one yellow card and he needs to understand, whether it’s fair or nor fair, that he has one already, so he cannot make that mistake.

“He left the team with 10 men. It was disappointing but we need to move on.

“He is an experienced guy but for sure he will learn from this mistake.”

Despite being a man down Wolves continued to defend valiantly and it was only a controversial Raheem Sterling penalty – that Moss gave when it hit Joao Moutinho’s armpit – that handed City the narrow win.

After only losing to Liverpool last week after a 94th minute Divock Origi strike, Lage says he is proud of his side for battling against two of the world’s best – and refused to condemn Moss for his decision.

Lage added: “When you come to this stadium to play against this top team with one of the best managers in history, and the first question is about the referee. We tried to do our best.

“When you don’t have the ball you need to defend against them and when when we did have it we tried to our best to play our game.

“In the end I feel proud of my players. Not just for today but for what we did against Liverpool.

“We are defending well and when we have the ball we try to understand the opponent and the spaces they give us, and try to play.

“I don’t talk about referees. I want to move on. The most important thing to talk about in football is players and teams and this fantastic environment we have.

“It is special because our fans support us since the first minute.”

City manager Pep Guardiola was scathing of his assessment of Wolves after the game, criticising their approach to the game.

He said: “It’s so difficult to play against a team like this who doesn’t want to play.”

But Lage was unfazed by the Spaniard’s comments, and believes some of City’s players who have worked with Lage in the past know how he truly wants to play.

When asked how he feels about those comments, Lage said: “It’s his opinion. I don’t feel anything.

“He has that opinion about us and I don’t really care. It’s his opinion and I respect him and his opinion.

“It’s just one opinion. You can see the other opinions of us since we arrived here.

“I never talk about how the other team plays. They decided to play in that way because they have the players to play in that way.

“I know four players they have here because they worked with me when they were young. One of them worked with me at the professional level and he knows how we want to play.

“For me, the best thing is the opinion of the players, not from the other managers.”