Manchester City 5-1 Wolves: Analysis

Let's face it, no-one was expecting Wolves to get anything from a trip to Manchester City, not after a run of seven games without a win that only ended with a narrow success against relegation-threatened Luton.

But it must have been galling for Gary O'Neil, sat high in the stands, a legacy of a previous instance of speaking his mind about the performance of match officials, to leave the Etihad feeling like he had been let down again.

Taking a step back, it is easy to understand that Craig Pawson's decision to award Manchester City their first penalty was not going to be overturned.

But when you watch the replay, it is hard not to reach the same conclusion as O'Neil. What was Rayan Ait-Nouri supposed to do? He cannot disappear.

Josko Gvardiol goes into the situation with force, he gets his shot away and his momentum takes him into Ait-Nouri, who admittedly does not play the ball.

But was the Morocco international playing the man?

It doesn't matter how and in the context of a 5-1 defeat, it is a footnote.

Moments matter though. Without that early goal, City might have got stressed and Wolves might have been able to cling to something.

Football can be immensely frustrating at times. This was one of those days for Wolves and O'Neil.