Kevin de Bruyne scored in his penultimate home game to edge Manchester City past Wolves and lift them to third place in the Premier League.
Midfielder De Bruyne announced last month he will leave when his contract expires at the end of the season, and his first-time finish from Jeremy Doku’s low cross helped City move four points clear of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest in the race to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
Before the goal, Wolves were causing City problems and should have done better when they broke through but Jean-Ricner Bellegarde elected to square the ball rather than shoot, and the chance went begging as the sliding Marshall Munetsi was unable to connect.
The in-form visitors had City rattled and were inches from breaking the deadlock when the dangerous Rayan Ait-Nouri struck the far post before his follow-up was cleared off the line by Josko Gvardiol.
Wolves attempted to hit back in the second half and struck the woodwork again through Matheus Cunha’s whipped effort, but their six-game winning streak came to an end.
City in box seat for Champions League
Pep Guardiola has said his side’s season has not been good enough, but they are hitting their stride at just the right time, reaching the FA Cup final last weekend and extending their unbeaten run to nine games on Friday.
City have slipped off the top and been knocked out of the Champions League early in their patchy campaign, and the result against Wolves was just the second time this season they had won five games in a row.
The hosts were given a stern test by an impressive Wolves outfit, but as good sides do they managed to hold firm before hitting their opponents with a goal against the run of play.
Speedy winger Doku proved to be a menace from the left throughout the game and it was his low cross on 35 minutes which was converted by De Bruyne.
The captain is approaching the end of his City career and Wolves will be more than happy to see the back of him, as De Bruyne has contributed six goals and five assists against them during his 11-year spell with the club.
Omar Marmoush blazed over and Mateo Kovacic scuffed wide, but City held on for a significant victory after Forest were beaten at home by Brentford on Thursday.
With league games remaining against already-relegated Southampton, Bournemouth and Fulham, City know victories in those matches will assure them a place in Europe’s elite next term.
Wolves’ fine run comes to an end
“First the points, then the pints” is the saying from Wolves manager Vitor Pereira.
But the Portuguese is unlikely to be joining Wanderers fans at a Manchester pub on Friday night after being narrowly beaten by City.
Journeyman Pereira has performed an incredible job since taking over from Gary O’Neil in December, steering his side to top-flight safety with only Liverpool (14) and Newcastle (12) winning more games than Wolves during that period.
Such has been the progress that when the two sides met at Molineux back in October, Wolves’ defeat left them bottom – and here they left Etihad Stadium knowing they could have taken all three points.
Wolves had their share of chances and Bellegarde should have been more selfish and had a shot at goal when running clear, while they also hit the woodwork in each half.
With a Premier League place assured for next season, Wolves can enjoy the remainder of their campaign with games to come against Brighton and Crystal Palace before rounding off against Brentford.
Player of the match
K. De Bruyne
[BBC]