Another game without a goal for Erling Haaland, but it was at least one with a difference. There was a cameo for Manchester City’s great constant. There were goals from the two men charged with relieving the scoring burden on his sizeable shoulders. Haaland’s recent return now stands at a lone penalty in his last nine games, but this was not a day for City to lament that.
For weeks, Pep Guardiola had cited Omar Marmoush’s absence at the African Cup of Nations as a reason he could not rest Haaland. When the Egyptian returned and the Norwegian took a turn on the bench, Marmoush scored: but as a left winger. “I see him more as a striker, not a proper winger,” said Guardiola, who remains a contrarian, even if Haaland remains the only out-and-out centre-forward in the City squad.
But not, arguably, the only specialist scorer. Only Haaland and Brentford’s Igor Thiago have more Premier League goals than Antoine Semenyo and the £62.5m signing’s first for City – but third in three different competitions – was evidence of his clinical touch. Haaland’s outing spanned 17 minutes and came when the game was decided.
It meant City ended one of the worst weeks of Guardiola’s reign with something of a routine win. After comprehensive defeats in first the Manchester derby and then to the underdogs of Bodo/Glimt, they encountered an unnecessarily placid Wolves side.
They seemed intimidated by City’s reputation, ignoring the reality of recent weeks. This was at least proof of City’s resources: after they were without 11 players in Norway, Guardiola had the luxury of starting without the overworked Phil Foden, who got half an hour, and Haaland. His two scorers each cost at least £60m. He gave a debut to his latest acquisition, and Marc Guehi cut an assured figure, his passing enabling him to look at home in sky blue.
City have spent heavily in successive Januarys and Marmoush was a 2025 arrival. “When he arrived, he was unbelievable,” said Guardiola. “He is a special player.” Yet the scorer of the Premier League goal of the season last year had not mustered any in the current campaign.
An eight-month wait was ended inside six minutes, Marmoush hooking in a volley from Matheus Nunes’s cross. This was the Nunes derby and if the Portuguese scarcely excelled as a Wolves player, it was a reminder that the Midlands club may have sold too many players for their own prospects of survival.
But Guardiola was rewarded for using Marmoush on the flanks, with Rayan Cherki instead operating as a striker. The Egyptian might have been involved in a second goal. He shot against the post after brilliantly plucking Abdukodir Khusanov’s long pass out of the sky and then, when jinking inside, volleyed the ball against Yerson Mosquera’s outstretched arm. Referee Farai Hallam, sent to the screen, ruled it was not a penalty however, and on his Premier League debut, the official acquitted himself well.
“Fair play to Farai, I think it was the right call,” said Wolves manager Rob Edwards. Guardiola did not agree, and suggested he would wait for referees’ chief Howard Webb to call him on Sunday.
In any case, Semenyo was able to double, and almost triple, City’s lead. His 11th goal of the Premier League campaign was arrowed in. “The control is perfect, pass the ball to the net,” gushed Guardiola. The finish came with Semenyo’s left foot. So, too, did a thunderbolt that rebounded back off the bar. There are few more two-footed players and if that formed part of the reason City bought him, so did his goal return. “Since he arrived, Antoine is unbelievable,” said Guardiola.
For Haaland, sitting out the start of a top-flight match for the first time this season, time off allowed him to chat with his fellow Norwegian David Moller Wolfe as each warmed up. His eventual appearance took his tally to 2,586 minutes for City this season; it seemed curious Guardiola called upon him at all.
His introduction illustrated a gap between the teams. “We had a chuckle when we were bringing Tolu [Arokodare] on and they were bringing on [Jeremy] Doku and Erling Haaland,” added Edwards. Indeed, Haaland was not the only benched striker. Edwards dropped Arokodare but for different reasons, as Wolves adopted a 5-5-0 formation. “We made the change because they can suffocate you and starve you of possession,” Edwards said.
Yet it was as though Wolves had not noticed City’s recent results or frailty as the first half amounted to a missed opportunity for them. Wolves were more ambitious thereafter and the Leeds target Jorgen Strand Larsen came on, for what might prove a valedictory appearance. He glanced a header wide while Mosquera flicked one from a corner on to the bar.
“If we had got one, the atmosphere and vibe might have changed,” said Edwards. Instead, even as Haaland’s drought failed to end, City ended a wait of their own. For the first time in 2026, they have a league victory.
