Manchester City have kept the pressure on Liverpool at the top of the Premier League table, as they cut the gap back down to four points.
A first-half brace from Gabriel Jesus set the Blues on their way before a Conor Coady own-goal rounded off the scoring on a comfortable night for Pep Guardiola's men.
Story of the match
The game started out a fairly even contest, with the travelling Wolves fans in full voice as their team spent more time on the ball than they possibly expected in the opening minutes.
Guardiola was expressing his frustrations on the sideline as City opted to go sideways and backwards, rather than forwards on too many occasions.
Although in the 10th minute, a killer pass from Aymeric Laporte saw Leroy Sane in acres of space, allowing him to comfortably square to Jesus for a tap in.
Before the game question marks were raised as Jesus started ahead of Sergio Aguero, although the Brazilian gave himself and the fans a confidence booster with the first chance he received.
Moments later Sane again thought he was in down the City left on the counter, although Matt Doherty this time got back to isolate the German, learning from his earlier mistake.
A deflected effort from David Silva then flew narrowly over Rui Patricio’s goal as the visitors suddenly found themselves hanging onto the game.
With frustrations growing, Willy Boly flew into a challenge recklessly on Bernardo Silva, allowing Craig Pawson no option but to send him off.
Last time these sides met Boly was the hero as his goal earned his side a point, he couldn’t be further from that today, and it was always going to be an uphill battle for Wolves being a goal and a man down against the champions
Half chances came and went for both Sane and Raheem Sterling, as Wolves looked to hold on for half-time with the game still intact before the visitors suddenly broke down the left with Jonnny Otto only narrowly unable to pick out the supporting Raul Jimenez – a warning sign for the Citizens.
This was maybe the warning sign that City needed to shift into a higher gear, as the passing suddenly became more fluid by the home side.
With Wolves again looking to hold on to half-time, Sterling was deemed to have been brought down inside the area by Ryan Bennet, as Pawson controversially pointed to the spot five minutes before the break.
Jesus stepped up and sent Patricio the wrong way for his second of the game, with the hard-working Wolves feeling hard done by to be two down going into half-time.
Adama Traore was brought on at half-time as Nuno Espirito Santo looked to inject more pace into the visitors' attack – the counter-attack looked their only way back into the contest.
Half chances did come and go for Wolves on the counter-attack, although, as expected, the half was vastly dominated by the champions.
Substitute Kevin de Bruyne came close with a volley from range with 25 minutes to play, before Sterling was denied from close range by Patricio.
With just over 10 minutes to play, City rounded off the scoring, as de Bruyne whipped in a killer cross from the left, only allowing the unfortunate Coady to attempt to block, and slice into the back of his own net.
Takeaways from the match
Jesus continues to compete
Aguero has been the number one choice for the number nine slot in City’s attack ever since he came to the club in 2011, and this will continue to be the case as long as the now City legend continues to score at the rate that he does.
However, every time Jesus seems to get the nod ahead of City’s number 10 from the off, he seems to impress.
Another two goals today show that he is serious about challenging Aguero for his place in the side, and as long as he continues to score goals, Guardiola will continue to give him chances to compete for the position.
Winning games with ease
Just like they did in the early stages of the season, City have returned to effectively winning games early on in the contest.
When fighting on all fronts, it is vital to keep players fresh, and winning games early on can allow Guardiola the chance to be able to rest key names, such as David Silva who was substituted with over half an hour to play tonight.
The Citizens also won games early against Rotherham United and Burton Albion in their last two matchups, meaning they can continue to compete physically at the highest level possible in numerous competitions – a factor that you may see the benefit from come April and May.