Man City back to winning ways after dropping Haaland

Dropping Erling Haaland worked out just fine for Manchester City.

The Premier League's most fearsome striker and top scorer was relegated to the bench on Saturday after scoring just one goal in his previous eight games, and City responded to back-to-back defeats with a 2-0 win over last-placed Wolverhampton.

Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo, playing as high wingers in a tweaked tactical setup, scored first-half goals for City. It was Semenyo's third goal in four games since joining from Bournemouth in an $87 million deal and he also hit the crossbar in the second half.

Marc Guehi started after completing his move from Crystal Palace on Monday and helped to shore up City's defense that was creaking in alarming losses to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt over the past week.

Haaland entered as a substitute in the 73rd minute but didn't have a clear-cut chance. He is likely to return on Wednesday for City's vital Champions League game against Galatasaray — unless, that is, Guardiola liked what he saw against Wolves without his star player.

"The energy was really good in the first half," Guardiola said. "The last 20-25 minutes were a bit flat but, considering the amount of games, it was a good result and hopefully we can take good energy for our game on Wednesday."

Second-placed City moved four points behind Arsenal, which hosts Manchester United on Sunday.