Ilkay Gundogan feels Manchester City have only themselves to blame after a surprising and expensive loss to Wolves. In a dramatic finish at the Etihad on Sunday, Adama Traore scored twice in the closing ten minutes to secure a 2-0 win for the visitors against the reigning champions.
This was City's second major defeat of the season, leaving them eight points behind Liverpool despite holding onto second place. While Wolves executed their game plan perfectly, catching the home side out on the counter multiple times, Gundogan argued that City contributed to their own downfall. He told the BBC that the loss was a result of their own avoidable mistakes, making it feel as if they gifted the victory to Wolves.
The midfielder noted that throughout the season, their dropped points haven't been due to being outclassed by opponents, but rather due to their own faults, which he finds particularly demoralizing. He pointed out that despite creating opportunities, they couldn't find the net, and conceding first made a comeback nearly impossible. Defensively, the pairing of Fernandinho and Nicolas Otamendi looked shaky, and City were lucky to go into halftime level. A series of misplaced passes gifted Wolves three golden opportunities in the first half, though they failed to capitalize at the time.
It seemed City might escape punishment when David Silva hit the crossbar in the second half, but Wolves remained composed and struck twice late in the game. Both goals followed a similar pattern, with Raul Jimenez setting up Traore, who calmly beat Ederson twice to end a long goal drought. Wolves played with a confidence that belied their poor start to the season and showed no signs of fatigue following their Europa League trip to Turkey. Jimenez credited the win to the team rediscovering the form that made them successful last year, stating that they executed their plan perfectly and returned to the level that previously saw them at the top of the table.
Mexican forward Jimenez felt the group were returning to the recipe that served them so well last season. Jimenez said We had an incredible execution. We figure we did it well. We accomplished the things that last season caused us to be top of the group.