By Ethan Aspinall, Sat 24 January 2026 20:08
Manchester City 2 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0: match reportBlues return to winning ways with goals from Marmoush and Semenyo enough to get past Wolves
Manchester City defeated Wolves 2-0 to get their first Premier League win of 2026 following three draws and a defeat this month. The result was much needed as City had lost both of their previous two games to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt and needed to find some form quickly. Donnarumma started in goal. Nunes returned to the XI following a short period of absence due to flu. Guehi made his City debut partnering Khusanov at centre-back with O’Reilly at left back. Rodri, Reijnders, and Bernardo were in midfield with Semenyo, Cherki, and Marmoush in attack. Haaland and Foden were on the bench.
Despite struggling greatly to find the net recently, the first goal for the Blues came in just the 4th minute. Nunes charging down the flank put a brilliant cross in which found Marmoush who came flying in and got a touch ahead of the defence to make it 1-0 to the home side. City had a chance to make it two shortly after when Marmoush laid it off to Cherki on the edge of the box, but the resulting shot went well wide. City were well in control throughout the first half.
Around the half-hour mark, Khusanov fired the ball up to Marmoush who controlled it in the box and came off what looked like the arm of Mosquera. The ball deflected back to Marmoush, who shot and hit the post. Moments later, the referee was referred to VAR to check for a possible handball by Mosquera for a penalty. After a long review, the referee decided against giving a penalty a second time and stuck with his on-field decision.
City came again in stoppage time at the end of the first half and Bernardo found Semenyo who placed the ball into the bottom left corner to double the Blues lead at half time.
City could not generate a lot of chances in the second half however, with the closest chance coming for Semenyo again who had a strike in the box aiming for the roof of the net, but the shot bounced off the bar. Wolves themselves had some good chances, with a free kick going just over the bar and a header from a corner by Mosquera hitting the woodwork. Ultimately, City remained resilient defensively and held on for the clean sheet, with multiple blocks from O’Reilly in the dying moments to keep out the Wolves attack and ensure three points and a clean sheet for the Blues.
With the win, City have moved within four points of Arsenal, who face United tomorrow. Despite this, City’s focus will now shift to Wednesday night where they need a win at the very least against Galatasaray to keep any chance of automatic qualification to the Champions League knockout stages alive. Semenyo and Guehi are ineligible and Rodri will be suspended following his sending off against Bodo. Nunes’ return will have given the Blues a significant boost though and they will back themselves to get the job done.
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