Manchester City opened their Premier League year with a 2-0 victory over Wolves, highlighted by Marc Guehi’s composed debut and Pep Guardiola’s approval. First-half goals from Omar Marmoush and Antoine
Semenyo settled the contest at the Etihad Stadium, as Manchester City extended a long-running league streak against bottom-placed opposition and collected a first top-flight win of 2026.
Guardiola stressed how demanding Guehi already is inside the squad, praising both character and quality after just one appearance. Manchester City have now gone 31 Premier League fixtures without defeat against teams starting the day in last place, winning 25 and drawing six since a 2-1 loss to West Brom in December 2008.
Guehi’s calm display in Manchester City’s back line drew special attention from Guardiola, who highlighted the defender’s leadership qualities. The Spaniard told BBC Match of the Day: We won against a team who were unbeaten in the last four or five games, so pretty pleased. The captain of Crystal Palace has to be something special. Really pleased for him. He is so demanding for ourselves to do better. Good players adapt quick and understand the game, so that's why.
On the ball, Guehi showed why Manchester City moved for the defender, completing 95 passes, more than any team-mate. One of those passes created a big early chance, as a cross-field ball picked out Semenyo, who could not convert. Despite that miss, Manchester City kept control and limited Wolves’ threat for long spells.
The breakthrough arrived in the sixth minute when Marmoush finished a composed move, a moment Rob Edwards later felt changed Wolves’ approach. Semenyo then struck on a home Premier League debut for Manchester City, securing all three points before half-time. That goal rewarded lively movement from the winger, who had earlier wasted the opportunity created by Guehi’s long pass.
Reflecting on the evening, Guehi felt satisfied but insisted there is much improvement ahead within Manchester City’s system. Guehi said: It was OK from my part, I have got a lot of learning to do to get up to speed. There's a lot of details and positioning and certain things, but it has been really exciting. There's a good mentality about the group, important that the focus is on the next game, making sure we get the win. We need the mentality and the intensity within the side, and hopefully we will keep that going.
Top debut, Marc pic.twitter.com/gnR453YjhLManchester City (@ManCity) January 24, 2026
Manchester City dominance contrasts with Wolves’ Premier League struggle
While Manchester City celebrated, the result deepened Wolves’ difficult Premier League campaign. Wolves have collected eight points from 23 league matches this season, with one win, five draws and 17 defeats. That total is the fifth-lowest after 23 games in English top-flight history, using the modern three-points-for-a-win system as a reference point.
This fixture also marked a personal landmark for Rob Edwards, who oversaw a 50th Premier League match as a manager. Edwards has taken charge of 38 top-flight games with Luton Town and 12 with Wolves. Across those 50 matches, Edwards has seven wins, 11 draws and 32 defeats. Only Mick McCarthy, with 38 defeats, and Daniel Farke, with 35, have lost more of their first 50 Premier League matches.
Edwards acknowledged the effort from Wolves against Manchester City, but pointed to Marmoush’s early goal as a key setback. He told Sky Sports: It was a tough challenge, hard when you go 1-0 down so early on. The players did what we asked, we tried to be brave, We felt relatively comfortable; they didn't create too many moments. We pushed, and we created some chances. We had a few shots, but in the end, we weren't able to break through. We kept them relatively quiet and really grew into the game well.
Across the ninety minutes, Manchester City combined control in possession with efficiency in both boxes, while Wolves again left without reward. Guehi’s strong debut, Guardiola’s satisfaction and the extension of a long unbeaten run against bottom-placed sides underlined a positive night for the hosts, whereas Wolves and Edwards continue searching for a way to convert competitive spells into Premier League points.
