Man City defeated Wolves 4-0 at Molineux and the duo was crucial to breaking the deadlock and allowing the Citizens to get the three points.
Tijjani Reijnders was the star of the show with one goal and one assist, but his impact might have been as great in the opener, which he didn’t score nor assist. A brilliant solo run that opened up all kinds of spaces in a then-tight Wolves defence was basically half the goal.
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Rico Lewis also pitched in serving Erling Haaland who made it 1-0, but changed the landscape of the game when it was still a goalless draw. Here’s what we saw from the duo that set the stage for Man City’s win.
Reijnders and Lewis took City out of the comfort zone
Pep Guardiola’s side performed a rather dull first 30 minutes of football at Molineux. They initially fell on Vitor Pereira’s trap – a narrow and hard-working 5-4-1 that denied all spaces down the middle.
With no resistance, the Citizens then identified Jeremy Doku as the main source of potential advantage creation and abused the Belgian’s ability to take defenders on and get crosses into the box. However, that strategy was almost automatic for them, making themselves predictable and easy to defend.
They were severely lacking supporting runs from midfielders to combine with the wingers and give Wolves something different to think about. That started with Rico Lewis, who in theory is their right-back, but operates as a midfielder in possession.
Man City’s first true dangerous play was precisely when he projected himself forward in the half-space and received a through ball from Oscar Bobb. Moments later, Bernardo Silva did the same in the left wing, being served by Doku and providing a beautiful cross for Haaland, who mistimed his jump and headed the ball wide.
Then, in the 33rd minute, Reijnders carried the ball with his body facing the right wing, indicating that he would do what the Citizens had been doing for basically the whole game. Instead, he turned it into a central solo run and spotted Lewis running between the channels. The No.82 squared it to Haaland at the back post and made it 1-0.
Verticality wins it for City
Suddenly, everything opened up. Bobb intercepted a bad pass from Emmanuel Agbadou and served a rushing Reijnders, who shot it first-time and extended their lead. The play started from a Wolves mistake, but the idea of midfielders charging forward was there – and yet again it was the Dutchman.
And then Reijnders did it for a third time, playing a 1-2 with Bobb and then running in the same half-space that Lewis had found success attacking in the first half. He pulled it back and Haaland was there to finish it and essentially put the game to bed.
Rayan Cherki, who came on as a substitute, added a fourth in the 81st minute and made it 4-0, which ended up being the final score.
Another point worth mentioning is the coordenation of Man City’s defensive line. Other than the four Wolves offsides that the linesman flagged, their forwards were left in illegal positions countless times. That delayed a lot of their offensive actions because the other players had to find other options. Really solid display from the Citizens in this department.
Overall, these might be the signs that Guardiola’s patient play and Pepijn Lijnders’ chaotic and intense footballing nature are starting to come along. If that happens, good luck to the rest of the Premier League.