Omar Marmoush scored his first Premier League goal of the season to help Manchester City return to winning ways by easing past bottom side Wolves at the Etihad Stadium.
Pep Guardiola’s side had suffered a miserable start to 2026 by not winning any of their four league games, and the Spaniard decided to give star striker Erling Haaland and midfielder Phil Foden a rest by dropping them to the bench.
The duo came on in the second half, by which time their teammates had already made a positive impact to put City back on track in the top flight.
Both sides set their stalls out early on, with visiting Wolves opting to sit back with a five-man defense, but City exerted their dominance by carving them open at will inside the first 10 minutes.
Debutant Marc Guehi almost made a dream start in a City shirt, but his header at the back post was straight into the grasp of goalkeeper Jose Sa inside the first five minutes.
City grabbed the lead a minute later when Marmoush stabbed home Matheus Nunes’ whipped cross, before Semenyo latched onto a ball over the top, but his first-time strike was bundled away by Sa.
The hosts doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime to effectively seal the points when Bernardo Silva fizzed a pass into the feet of Semenyo, who converted with a cool finish from the edge of the area—and he also rattled the crossbar in the second half.
Yerson Mosquera’s flicked header clipped the crossbar for Wolves late on, but Rob Edwards’ side has now won just once all season and lies 14 points adrift of safety.
City was outplayed by Manchester United last Saturday and suffered a massive Champions League upset at Bodo/Glimt the week before, but this result seemed inevitable from the start.
For at least a day, City has reduced the gap to leaders Arsenal to four points and will be hoping for a favor from rivals United when Michael Carrick’s side visits Emirates Stadium on Sunday (16:30 GMT).
The home side had drawn three and lost their other league game this year, but they were ahead from the start on Saturday, with Marmoush returning manager Guardiola’s faith by scoring in his first league game since August in place of Haaland.
Semenyo scored his third goal for City since joining from Bournemouth two weeks ago, demonstrating how efficient he can be when cutting in from the right—his 11th goal in his last 17 home games was gently taken and gave his team breathing room.
Guehi, a center-back who arrived from Crystal Palace, offered much-needed assurance in the heart of the defense, demonstrating his experience and serenity to assist City in keeping a clean sheet on his debut.
The result means City have now won 11 of their last 12 league games against Wolves and are unbeaten in their last 31 matches against teams starting the day at the bottom of the standings, a streak that dates back to the early days of Abu Dhabi ownership in 2008.
