Manchester Metropolis obtained again to profitable methods within the Premier League as they beat Wolverhampton Wanderers on the Etihad Stadium.
Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo scored the targets as Metropolis, who have been on a 5 sport winless streak within the Premier League and UEFA Champions League, ended it towards a Wolves aspect who stay rooted to the underside of the Premier League – seven factors under nineteenth place Burnley.
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Listed here are three issues we realized from Metropolis’s first league victory of 2026:
The assault is extra fluid with out Haaland
And no, don’t learn that as Metropolis being a greater group with out Erling Haaland. However you possibly can’t see that the assault didn’t look higher than it has been in latest weeks.
The positioning of Marmoush and Semenyo as inside forwards occupied the minds of each Wolves’s wingbacks and outdoors centre backs, which means there was house within the large areas for Matheus Nunes and Nico O’Reilly at full again and areas within the pockets for Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders, the 2 quantity tens.
I’ve beforehand stated Marmoush is a superb participant who fits a really particular function (working not fairly as a striker, left winger or a quantity ten, however one thing inbetween,) and towards Rob Edwards’s aspect, he performed properly in that place.
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The job for Pep Guardiola now’s discovering a approach to preserve the fluid rotations in attacking areas however with Haaland within the group as properly.
He might have now obtained simply the one objective in his final 9 Metropolis appearances, however with the assault functioning round him he’s nonetheless by far the most effective striker within the Premier League and carried Metropolis via the beginning of the season with targets.
It’d be silly to drop him utterly, and I believe the Metropolis boss will probably be looking for methods to get Haaland into the identical group as a fluid attacking unit.
Semenyo and Guehi is superb January enterprise
It’s plain that Semenyo has made an enormous distinction to Metropolis’s attacking prowess in his opening few video games on the membership, and based mostly on his debut, it seems Marc Guehi could have the identical impact on the defence.
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The previous Crystal Palace captain is composure personified. He’s extraordinarily comfy on the ball and is completely unflappable defensively. He was neither outmuscled or outpaced by a ahead all through the sport, and made an awesome block on the finish of a really strong first sport.
Semenyo, in the meantime, is proving himself to have an actual eye for a objective, with three in his first 4 carrying sky blue.
Not simply that, however he’s a way more properly rounded participant than he’s given credit score for. He’s an excellent dribbler, has an eye fixed for a go and presents a menace operating in behind along with his tempo and power.
Each had glorious first halves of the season at Palace and Bournemouth, and Metropolis are being confirmed to have made the fitting determination to purchase them in January with the shape they’re exhibiting on the pitch proper now.
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Nunes makes an enormous distinction to the group when match
It was nice to see Matheus Nunes again within the beginning XI.
The transformed full again missed the disastrous video games towards Manchester United and Bodo Glimt and as demonstrated by his efficiency towards his former aspect, was maybe extra sorely missed than many deemed he could be.
The Portuguese worldwide is definitely Metropolis’s best choice when taking all issues wanted into consideration to be an excellent fullback.
He’s quick, robust, an excellent one vs one defender and presents an awesome attacking menace. Even his bozo moments that haunted him final season have gotten fewer and additional between.
The likes of Givario Learn, Tino Livramento and even Trent Alexander-Arnold proceed to be linked with Metropolis, however proper now it’s tough to argue that Nunes wouldn’t begin over any of them.