EPL: Man! It's a collapse

Wolverhampton Pep Guardiola admitted Manchester Citys faint hopes of retaining the Premier League title were in tatters as they blew a twogoal lead and had Ederson sent in a dramatic 32 defeat at Wolves on FridayGuardiolas side recovered from Edersons 12th minute dismissal to take control thanks to Raheem Sterlings double either side of halftime But Citys fatigued stars were unable to go the distance as Adama Traores goal started a thrilling Wolves fightback Raul Jimenez equalised with eight minutes to go and Matt Doherty hit the winner to send Molineux wild in the 89th minuteAlways the goals can be avoided but sometimes its tiredness Its a lot of minutes to defend with 10 men Guardiola said No regrets they did absolutely everything to defend a result for 80 minutes but it was difficult Third placed City trail runaway leaders Liverpool by 14 points and Jurgen Klopps redhot team have a game in hand making it hard to imagine the champions getting their hands on the trophy for a third successive seasonPep GuardiolaBig gap for a long timeIt is a big gap for a long time Its not a race if you think about it Guardiola said I have been asked the question for a long time and it is the same answer Its not realistic to think about the title race We have to think of the next game and about winning our gamesWolves flying high in fifth place have contributed to Citys downfall more than most and after winning 20 at the Etihad Stadium in October they celebrated a topflight double over the Manchester club for the first time since 196061 The only blemish for Wolves were the missiles thrown from the stands when City celebrated their second goal an incident that prompted the Football Association to launch an investigationReferee Martin Atkinson was seen passing a metal hip flask to the fourth official as an announcement over the tannoy warned numerous instances of objects being thrown have been seen CCTV will be used to prosecute offendersIt was a bitter night for Guardiola whose team have lost five league games this season after being beaten just four times in the whole of last term City had looked closer to their best in recent wins over Arsenal and Leicester but they could not have made a worse start at Molineux When Diogo Jota escaped with a welltimed run behind the City defence Ederson rashly raced out of his area The Brazilian misjudged the bounce of the ball and clipped Jota earning a red card Guardiola then replaced Sergio Aguero with reserve keeper Claudio Bravo City responded by snatching the lead in controversial fashion in the 25th minuteIncisive runRiyad Mahrez made an incisive run that ended with Leander Dendoncker stepping on the Algerians foot leading VAR to award a penalty That was not the end of the drama as Sterlings spotkick was saved by Rui Patricio only for VAR to intervene again as the penalty was retaken for encroachment Sterling shot to the same side with his second kick but although Patricio saved again this time the winger followed up to tap in the rebound When Sterling doubled the lead in the 50th minute City looked in charge Beating the offside trap with ease Sterling ran onto Kevin De Bruynes pass and clipped a deft finish over PatricioCatch up on all the latest sports news and updates here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updatesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever