Manchester City today won an intriguing battle with Wolves 3-1 at Etihad Stadium to maintain their five-point lead at the top of the Premier League.
It was a frustrating afternoon for City which saw missed chances, strewn passé, brilliant saves and a red card to their captain but Roberto Mancini's men came through in the end despite a performance full of character from Mick McCarthy's side.
Goals to Edin Dzeko, Aleksandar Kolarov and Adam Johnson outshone Stephen Hunt's 75th minute penalty to give City an unprecedented record of scoring two or more goals in all of their opening 10 matches.
City finally broke down Wayne Hennessey's resistance in the 52nd minute when Sergio Aguero ran down a loose ball with the attempted clearance from the Wales international bouncing back off the Argentine ace into the path of Edin Dzeko who controlled the bouncing ball with his chest before finishing with a straightforward side-footer from just outside the area into an open goal. It was the Bosnian's ninth league goal of the season and fifth in his last three in all competitions.
14 minutes later and the afternoon looked like it could have been over for Wolves when City went two ahead with a simple tap-in from Aleksandar Kolarov. David Silva's whipped shot from outside forced Hennessey into a save but he could only push it as far as the Serbian full-back who knocked it home to make it 2-0.
But Wolves were back in the contest less than 10 minutes later when Stephen Hunt sent Joe Hart the wrong way from the penalty spot. The spot-kick came about when Adlene Guedioura's shot from range was not spilt by Hart and as Kevin Doyle went after the loose ball, City skipper Vincent Kompany took the Republic of Ireland international out of play illegally and was sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity.
In injury time, however, City put their fans at ease when Yaya Toure teed up substitute Adam Johnson outside the area and he took a touch before curling his left-footer past Hennessey and in for his side's third which was also their 36th league goal of the campaign so far.
Earlier, Samir Nasri wad close when his volley from edge of the area needed to be tipped over by Hennessey before Aguero struck with venom from outside the area with a diving Wolves gloveman producing a strong right hand to knock it to safety. Moments later, Micah Richards made another driving run down the right before pulling it back for Aguero who scuffed his shot wide in what was a huge letoff for the visitors.
Hennessey produced another massive save late in the first half when Silva found Dzeko and the Bosnian's fierce shot from the edge of the area was turned wide by the Welshman who had a massive game in the first half before coming across a few errors in the second as the City train rolls along, although it was a much-improved showing from the Molineux outfit.
TRIBAL ASKS: Can Man City sustain this brilliant goalscoring run? Do they have the most fearsome attack in the competition?
Manchester City: 3 (Edin Dzeko 52', Aleksandar Kolarov 67', Adam Johnson 90+2') Wolves: 1 (Stephen Hunt (p) 75') Etihad Stadium, Manchester - 47,142
Yellow cards:MANC - Gareth Barry 20', Edin Dzeko 62' WOL - Kevin Doyle 50' Red card:MANC - Vincent Kompany 74'
