Manchester City maintain pressure on Premier League leaders Liverpool with easy win over 10-man Wolves

Manchester City 3-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Gabriel Jesus scored twice before Kevin de Bruyne made sure of the win against a Wolves side weakened by Willy Boly’s red card

The gap is four-points wide once more. Manchester City maintained pressure on league leaders Liverpool with this victory over 10-man Wolverhampton Wanderers, refusing to cede the ground recovered with their victory over Jurgen Klopp's here a fortnight ago.

Guardiola will have known that beating Liverpool in their last Premier League outing would count for little if City were to suffer the type of unexpected defeat which almost scuppered their title defence at Christmas. Playing in the last fixture of the weekend, more than 48 hours after the leaders picked up three points at Brighton, brought its own additional layer of pressure.

However, against one of the few sides to have taken points from them already this season, the defending champions suggested that they are not yet ready to relinquish their crown. On paper, this was one of the tougher tests which still awaited City at the Etihad this season, yet Guardiola's side were entirely comfortable from start to finish.

The 3-0 victory rarely looked in doubt once Gabriel Jesus opened the scoring early, though City's cause was helped by Willy Boly's red card for a dangerous tackle on Bernardo Silva shortly after. Jesus added another from the penalty spot before a Conor Coady own goal ensured that the scoreline would accurately reflect the champions' dominance.

Guardiola chose to name Kevin De Bruyne on the substitutes' bench, five days after the Belgian's show of frustration at being brought off in the 9-0 drubbing of Burton Albion. Sergio Aguero recovered from the flu in time to join him among the substitutes, with Jesus preferred up front after his four-goal haul against the Brewers.

Following a lean and inconsistent 2018 in front of goal, it has become rare for Jesus to start ahead of Aguero when Guardiola selects a first-choice line-up, but the 21-year-old has made a promising start to the new year and maintained it within the first 10 minutes here by tucking away City’s opener.

The goal owed much to the vision of Aymeric Laporte. It was the centre-half's perfectly-weighted through ball from out the back which sent Leroy Sané in behind the Wolves' defence down the left flank. Rui Patricio, the visiting goalkeeper, failed to cut out the winger's daisy-cutter of a cross, leaving Jesus with a simple tap-in.

Wolves' task for the evening was now an extremely difficult one and yet, nine minutes later, it would only become harder still with Boly’s dismissal. The ball was there to be won, yes, but the force of his challenge was reckless and the follow-through caught Bernardo square on the ankle. Craig Pawson, the match referee, had little choice but to show red.

The 10-man visitors’ hopes of salvaging something were lifted briefly when one bright counter-attack saw Raul Jimenez and Jonny Otto combine incisively, cutting through City’s disorganised defence, but Diogo Jota failed to get a toe on the low cross that followed. Just minutes later, City's lead would be doubled from the penalty spot.

When Ryan Bennett's clumsy foul on Raheem Sterling was rightly penalised, Jesus took the ball and the stuttered run-up that followed spoke to this striker's new-found confidence. Patricio was sent the wrong way, with the ball dispatched firmly into his bottom right-hand corner.

This was not the sort of evisceration witnessed in the recent cup ties against Rotherham and Burton but once two goals clear, City played as though they were fully assured of the result. Complacency has crept into their play at times this season but not here. The champions controlled the remainder of the contest with ease.

The only wonder was how they did not convert this dominance into more goals and build the goal difference column which may be crucial come the end of the season. Sané was handed a presentable opportunity to add the third at the start of the second half when found in space at the far post, but the winger miscued his attempt horribly, kicking the ball against his standing leg and out of play.

Kevin de Bruyne scored City's third goal (Getty)

De Bruyne was introduced just after the hour mark and, following all the discussion about his demeanour against Burton, he began with real purpose. When the ball bounced invitingly for the Belgian on the edge of the penalty area, he released a straight, powerful effort at Patricio's goal. It went menacingly wide of the top left-hand corner.

When the third goal eventually arrived, De Bruyne had a hand in it. However, on a less-than-perfect evening for Liverpool supporters, it was Anfield academy product Coady who applied the decisive touch, sending De Bruyne's cross past his own goalkeeper.

Many of Coady's friends and relatives on Merseyside would have hoped for him to have a somewhat different impact on the evening's proceedings, but Wolves never recovered from the early goal and losing Boly, while City simply would not be denied. The title race continues, the champions are still chasing their challengers, but this particular hurdle was comfortably cleared.