Man City edge Wolves thanks to dramatic John Stones winner

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Nicol: VAR deserves praise after Man City's late winner vs. Wolves

Steve Nicol reacts to the late VAR call that gave Man City a 2-1 win over Wolves in the Premier League.

Oct 20, 2024, 01:44 pm

Manchester City defender John Stones scored a controversial stoppage-time winner in a 2-1 victory at Wolves on Sunday, setting a club record of 31 league games unbeaten.

Champions City dominated possession from start to finish at Molineux, but were shocked in the seventh minute when a superb cross from Nélson Semedo was met with a composed close-range finish by Wolves striker Jørgen Strand Larsen.

Semedo missed a glorious chance to put Wolves further ahead in a one-on-one that Ederson saved, before City defender Josko Gvardiol picked up the ball in space and curled a beautiful shot past José Sá for a deserved 33rd-minute equaliser.

Stones' late goal from a corner went to a VAR check for a possible offside by Bernardo Silva in front of the goalkeeper, but it was allowed, to the delight of City manager Pep Guardiola and travelling fans.

"I'm really pleased to win in that fashion and get on the scoresheet again," said Stones, who also scored a late equaliser against Arsenal last month.

"It was a tough game. I've got to give credit to Wolves, how they stopped us creating chances, made it difficult for us in the final third," he added.

City briefly moved top of the league with 20 points before Liverpool retook the top spot with a 2-1 win over Chelsea.

Bottom on one point and without a win this season, Wolves are staring at a battle against relegation unless they can start picking up wins.

Their manager, Gary O'Neil, was furious at the end of the game, after his team had defended valiantly against City, who enjoyed most of the possession.

"I am trying to remain calm," said O'Neil, who was livid on the touchline after the call. "I have been involved in a few of those and not had many go in our favour so was expecting that outcome.

"There is some grey area that can go either way and once it was like that, I wasn't confident it would go our way."

Referee Chris Kavanagh initially disallowed Stones' goal, believing Silva had blocked goalkeeper Sá's line of vision, but VAR deemed that was not the case. When Kavanagh saw footage at the side of the pitch, he overturned the decision, bringing boos ringing round the ground from the home fans.