FUCKIN PHEW!!!
Johnny Big Bollocks does it again!
Matches are always an unknown quantity after the International break, but City started brightly enough & looked up for the game. After dominating the opening exchanges, we again got caught cold by a sucker punch.
There was a gaping hole between Doku & Gvardiol. It's becoming a feature of our matches where teams try to exploit the gap between them with balls into the vacated space, as they hit us with pacey breaks. And so it proved with the ball in from our left for the Wolves opener. It was an absolute peach of a cross, with any touch by our retreating defenders putting them in danger of deflecting a goal in.
The tap in finish sent the Wolves fans wild, & the game then settled down into attack vs defence, with Wolves periodically trying to replicate the move that led to the opener. They nearly went 2 up when they hit us on the break again, but Gvardiol did enough to put the attacker off with a smothering save from Ederson.
We toiled away, but Wolves had every player behind the ball. Games this season are reminiscent of the Pellegrini era where we'd dominate, but looked shaky to rapid counters out wide.
Using inverted full backs or centre backs gives us an extra body further forward to help break down a low block, but having 3 at the back without wingbacks to make a 5 in defensive transitions, is leaving us vulnerable to counters. Teams must sense this as a weakness in our tactical formation, & it's something we've got to find a solution to.
Wolves were beginning to wobble, & their stiff rearguard resistance was finally breached when Gvardiol got the ball outside the box on the left, switched it to his right, & rifled a beauty into the top right corner for a deserved equaliser! 1-1 at the break.
The Wolves goalie was keeping them in the game with a string of brilliant saves, & their CB's were having a personal battle on & off the ball with Erling which kept him quiet all game. It was a decent team performance by City over all, but Wolves continued to frustrate with a 10-man defence, reducing us to long-range efforts as we tried in vain to get ahead.
As the match entered the final 20 minutes, Wolves were dead on their feet, but City had few answers to their frustrating parked bus. Their occasional attempted break-aways also caused us a few moments of panic & there was a real fear we could fall to another counter attack sucker punch, as we pressed forward seeking a winner.
As a final throw of the dice, Baldy withdrew Kovacic & brought on Nunes to the expected huge boos from the home crowd. If nothing else, Matheus would give us fresh legs in midfield against his previous team who were practically out on their feet with exhaustion.
The game was petering out into a draw as 5 minutes extra time was announced. City were desperately trying to find a winner. We had three corners in quick succession, with Wolves players flinging their bodies in the way with manic last ditched blocks.
HOWEVER, cometh the final minute, up steps
Johnny Big Bollocks to crash in a bullet header for a controversial last gasp winner! Bernardo was blocking their keeper & timed his run away to perfection, but not before giving him a nudge which unsettled the goalie. By the time Stones met the header, the keeper had a clear, unobstructed sight of the ball, which flashed past him for the deserved winner.
Wolves were up in arms! I'd have been pissed if it'd happened to us, BUT you can clearly see their keeper had 2-3 seconds unimpeded after the nudge to set himself, but he couldn't stop the header even if he'd whipped out a trowel & built a wall with bricks & mortar, such was the power from the Stones flick.
It's tough away games like this that make Champions. My MoTM is Stones. I thought he had an indifferent start to the match, but once he settled down he was a rock who came up with the vital winning goal!
Roll on Sparta Prague!!