Manchester City 3 - 1 Wolves: Bark but no bite as City survive late scare

MANCHESTER City overcame Wolves at the Etihad Stadium to restore their five-point advantage at the top of the Barclays Premier League despite having Vincent Kompany sent off.

City went ahead early in the second half when Edin Dzeko converted the loose ball after Sergio Aguero had pounced on some hesitant play by the previously impressive Wayne Hennessey, and the Wanderers goalkeeper then palmed David Silva’s shot into the path of Aleksandar Kolarov, who made it 2-0 in the 67th minute.

Stephen Hunt pulled back a goal from the penalty spot with 15 minutes left following Kompany’s dismissal for bringing down Kevin Doyle, but substitute Adam Johnson wrapped up the victory for the hosts in stoppage time.

Given what had happened when the sides met in midweek, many were expecting a comfortable afternoon for free-scoring City, but they endured a frustrating first half as they failed to make the most of the chances that came their way thanks both to Hennessey’s efforts and their own poor finishing.

City kept the pressure up after the restart, and with seven minutes of the second half gone, the hosts made the breakthrough as Hennessey made a hash of dealing with a backpass.

Aguero challenged the goalkeeper and the ball spun to Dzeko, who lofted it into the net.

Two minutes later City had their second, Hennessey parrying Silva’s shot from the edge of the box and Kolarov tucking away an easy finish.

City appeared to be cruising, but they were then reduced to ten men when Hart spilled a shot from Adlene Guedioura and Kompany was adjudged to have impeded Doyle. Kompany was shown a straight red card and Hunt dispatched the resulting spot-kick to set up a nervy finale, but City made sure at the death as Adam Johnson collected Yaya Toure’s pass and fired in.