Traore's Double Leads Lethal Wolves over Manchester City
It was clear last season that Wolverhampton Wanderers are rekindling past glories.
Dudes took another serious step in serving notice at the Etihad by standing up to Manchester City for most of the day and then knocking them down at dusk with an 0-2 decision.
Shockwaves may have rumbled through the stands at the final whistle, but this was no fluke.
City's still good enough to run with the Premiership pack. It's just that the pack that mauled them here is the real deal.
It was an important match for City, who needed the win to keep chasing Premier League leaders Liverpool. However, Pep Guardiola's side was stunned two late Adama Traore goals.
The hosts kicked off the match with the usual Guardiola style of keeping the possession. This time, though, City just couldn't create offensive chances. Wolves saw to that with relish.
In fact, it took them 32 mins to record their first shot on target while Wolves were exploring counter-attacks.
Guardiola made a few changes into the second half, as City showed improvement. David Silva hit the post from a free-kick, dropping a clue that the homies would open the scoring.
However, in the 80th minute, Wolves got the perfect counter through Raúl Jiménez, who dribbled past Nicolas Otamendi and settled Traore, upon which he calmly slotted home past Ederson:
Naturally, this spurred City to escalate their pressing. Once again, dudes could have scored through Sergio Agüero, but he wasted yet another clear chance.
Then, at 90+4, Traore got the ball on his own half and drove forward, combining pace with technique. His effort was rewarded by finding nylon once again:
City's not exactly in crisis yet, but they are starting to significantly lose touch with Liverpool:
Wolves are still bubbling under their own expectations -- sitting 11th with 10 points in 8 matches -- but with their budget allowing for more depth, all they need to do is add a bitta consitency and the may indeed re-live their 1950s era when they claimed a pair of league titles, not to mention the FA Cup in 1960.