Okay, guess I should bust the bubble. There are 2 interconnected myths getting voiced here.
1. That the double pivot worked.
2. That Dihno was the reason it worked and it wouldn't with Gundogan.
Let me start with the first. The double pivot did not work. Yes we won the match. But this doesn mean the system worked.
Offensively, it was a drag. We created fewer chances. Defensively, we looked the same. Got little pressure (like was often the case last year) but can when the pressure came, we broke. Like we often did last year.
The only difference is Wolves didn't score 3 of their 4 clear chances. Something that would have happened last year. So in terms of reducing opportunities for the opposition it didn't do that. So it really didn't work.
2. The Fallacy that when Gundogan plays with Rodri, they do so as a double pivot. This was almost never the case ( I think it happened in one game I can remember). For the most part when Gundogan and Rodri played together, Gundogan was simply playing the 8. Which he isn't particularly good at.
That said, Gundogan ina real pivot would have looked probably very close this game, barring a few bad forward passes by Dihno. Like Dihno had in the game, Gundog would have had very few tackles, a couple of interceptions (possibly more), and a ton more passes ( more sideways and back).
But the results would have been similar, owning control of the game, but creating less than normal. And if Wolves failed to take 3 of their 4 chances. We'd have won just like we did.