Manchester City beat Wolves 5-1

On a chilly evening at the Etihad Stadium, Manchester City put on a dazzling display of football as they thrashed Wolves 5-1. The home team started off strong, with Kevin De Bruyne scoring an early goal to set the tone for the match. Raheem Sterling and Gabriel Jesus also found the back of the net, showcasing their attacking prowess.

Wolves tried to mount a comeback, but City's defense stood firm, with Ruben Dias and Aymeric Laporte putting in solid performances at the back. Phil Foden added insult to injury with a late goal to seal the victory for Pep Guardiola's side.

Pep Guardiola’s team needed to respond to first-place Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Bournemouth earlier in the day and did so emphatically with another big haul from Haaland.

The Norway striker struck twice from the penalty spot in the first half, either side of a towering header, before adding a fourth with a curling strike.

Substitute Julian Alvarez also got on the scoresheet, while Wolves’ consolation came from Hwang Hee-chan.

City have three games left -- one more than Arsenal -- and if they win them all, they will be champions for a record fourth year in a row. There was nothing in their commanding performance against Wolves -- who beat City 2-1 at Molineux in September -- to suggest they won't do exactly that, although as usual, Pep Guardiola wasn't completely happy.

"Nine points and we will be champions," Guardiola said afterwards. "Seven, six or three points, Arsenal will win the Premier League. I don't have the feeling that it was really good, especially in the first half. We found the goals, but we lost a lot of simple balls.

"It looks comfortable, but it was not. They are a really, really good team, but we made the right calls at the right moment."

Wolves, whose manager Gary O'Neill was serving a touchline ban, looked nothing like the team that edged City 2-1 earlier in the season.

"I thought we damaged ourselves mostly," said O'Neil, whose squad are 11th in the standings. "If you make errors against these guys, they'll punish you. We made too many errors and Manchester City were very clinical.

Haaland pushed for a fifth, stinging Sa’s palms again and performing an acrobatic bicycle kick that was deflected off his boot by Toti’s head.

Instead, the final goal of the game would come after Haaland’s standing ovation in the 82nd minute.

His replacement, Julian Alvarez, on his 100th City appearance, burst into the box and slid the ball home with his left to complete a vital and impressive City win.

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Sarah H

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