Key events
19 min: The number 18 clicks round on the stadium clock, and a huge ovation erupts in honour of Wolves’ former number 18, Diogo Jota. On the field, one great striker nearly honours another, as Silva crosses from the left, Haaland heading over an unguarded net – Sa was on walkabout – from six yards. To be fair to Haaland, the cross was too high and a little bit behind him.
18 min: Bobb jinks his way down the right, drawing three defenders before reaching the byline and pulling back to Lewis, who scuttles into the box on the underlap. Lewis wins a corner that’s cleared without too much drama. City are getting a fair bit of joy down this right side.
16 min: Silva is thankfully back up and about, and cleared to play on.
15 min: In going for that header, Gonzalez accidentally clattered into Andre, who took a whack on the side of the head. He goes down slowly, looking pretty groggy it has to be said. On comes the physio to gently assess the situation.
13 min: Stones crosses from the right again. It’s half cleared to Gonzalez, who heads back towards goal from the edge of the box. Sa does well to gather a ball threatening to sneak into the bottom-left corner.
11 min: Reijnders is already making his presence felt in the City midfield. A strong run down the middle nearly launches an attack out of nothing, challenges bouncing off him. He’s going to be some player for City.
9 min: Toti slips and nearly lets Haaland scoot clear down the middle. But as the defender falls, the ball hits his arm, stopping it getting through to the striker. It’s accidental, though, and it’s injury added to insult for City as Reijnders and Silva launch a pincer-move on Joao Gomes, and are about to tear clear themselves when the referee pulls them up for a soft foul. Wolves get away with not one, but two.
7 min: Stones crosses from a deep position on the right. He floats a diagonal towards Doku, whose run has sprung him clear of the City back line. He’s free in the box, albeit facing a tight angle; however he can’t control the dropping ball and it’s a goal kick.
6 min: Dias plays a careless pass out from the back which is snapped up by Andre. The ball’s shifted left to Bellegarde, who looks for Strand Larsen in the middle with a low cross. Dias makes up for his mistake by sliding in front of the Wolves striker to block and hook clear. Better from Wolves, which wasn’t a high bar: they’d previously hardly had a touch.
4 min: City have settled quickly. They’re already dominating possession. Bobb slips Reijnders into space on the right but the £34m signing from Milan runs the ball out for a goal kick.
2 min: Doku scampers down the left and crosses deep. Haaland is lurking, so Moller Wolfe is taking no chances, and heads behind for the first corner of the match. Silva swings it in, but it’s cleared easily enough.
City get the ball rolling. It’s passed back immediately to Trafford, who gets his first touch in a competitive fixture for his new club by blootering upfield. Agbadou heads it back the other way.
The teams are out. Wolves in their old gold, City their sky blue. Sting’s Fields of Gold, favourite of Diogo Jota, plays over the PA system. Very many emotional faces in the stands. A tifo is unveiled: “We’ll remember you when you walk in Fields of Gold.” The players congregate around the centre circle for a moment of thunderous applause in his memory. The crowd also chant his name. The Portuguese flag flutters high over Molineux. Then the referee’s whistle, signalling the match about to be played.
Pep Guardiola speaks to Sky. “We always try to anticipate what is going to happen … I don’t know … the team is training good since the Club World Cup … they came back from their short holidays good … training sessions are good … now they try to win games … it’s the first game of the season … this is my tenth season … we will try to be as consistent as possible … the key months will be November, December, January and February.”
He also reports that Ederson is ill with a stomach bug – so put that Galatasaray chat on hold – and that Rodri will be available again “very soon”.
Wolves boss Vítor Pereira talks to Sky Sports. “We have to compete from the first game … this is a tough competition … we need to start to get points from the beginning … today is not a time to complain about what is missing [re the departures of Rayan Aït-Nouri and Matheus Cunha] … it is time to think about ourselves, our players, we have a very good group … we compete for sure … I want to see bravery … tactical organisation … true spirit … good energy for the supporters … my focus is not in the players that leave but the players I have in this moment.”
The cover of today’s matchday programme is a study of Diogo Jota in the Old Gold of Wolves and the red and green of Portugal. His brother André Silva is draped in Portuguese finery on the back.
Supporters meanwhile congregate outside Molineux next to a mural depicting Jota. Glasses are raised to their old number 18; sweet memories of the 2017-18 Championship win, and the reflected glory of Jota’s 2024-25 Nations League triumph.
Wolverhampton Wanderers had a debut to Norway left wing-back David Møller Wolfe. Their other new signings – Colombia striker Jhon Arias and young Spanish midfielder Fer López – are both named as subs.
Manchester City give a debut to James Trafford, with Ederson omitted entirely. Ederson is rumoured to be leaving, possibly in a £10m deal with Galatasaray. Rayan Ait-Nouri, formerly of Wolves, and Tijjani Reijnders make their Premier League debuts for City, having already turned out for their new employers at the Club World Cup.
The teams
Wolverhampton Wanderers: Jose Sa, Doherty, Agbadou, Toti Gomes, Hoever, Joao Gomes, Andre Trindade, Wolfe, Bellegarde, Larsen, Munetsi.
Subs: Johnstone, Hugo Bueno, Santiago Bueno, Arias, Hwang, Mosquera, Kalajdzic, Rodrigo Gomes, Lopez.
Manchester City: Trafford, Lewis, Stones, Dias, Ait Nouri, Gonzalez, Reijnders, Bobb, Silva, Doku, Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Ake, Marmoush, Cherki, Gundogan, Akanji, Matheus Luiz, O’Reilly, Khusanov.
Referee: Jarred Gillett (Australia).
Preamble
Wolverhampton Wanderers start their season under a cloud. Diogo Jota was a Liverpool player when he passed, but he was beloved of Wolves too, having won promotion with the Old Gold before helping them re-establish themselves as a top-flight presence. He scored 44 goals in 131 appearances for the Molineux club, an extremely popular figure. Wreaths will be laid, a tifo unveiled, and Jota’s favourite song, the unquestionably appropriate Fields Of Gold by Sting, will be performed. Then a game of football will take place. Kick-off will be at 5.30pm UK time.
