Former Liverpool star and current pundit Stan Collymore has been left raving after seeing Wolves pull off an impressive 1-1 draw against Premier League champions Manchester City and picked out two players for special praise.
The newly promoted side were able to hold Pep Guardiola’s men at Molineux after having taken the lead through a controversial Willy Boly goal, Aymeric Laporte rescuing a point for the visitors in an enthralling tie.
Delivering his verdict, Collymore admitted a point for Wolves was “brilliant” and highlighted the performances of Rui Patricio and Helder Costa as key men for Nuno Esperito Santo.
He wrote in his team of the week column for the Mirror: “(Patricio) The Wolves shot-stopper had it all to do against a Citizens side who stuck six past Huddersfield last time out, but the Portuguese rose to the challenge.
Manchester City enjoyed 71 per cent of the game’s possession, and had 18 shots – Patricio was beaten just once.
“(Costa) The 24-year-old spoke out about his excitement in getting the chance to take on Manchester City ahead of the game.
“And (he) wasn’t overawed by the occasion for one second on Saturday, as he helped his Wanderers snatch a brilliant point from the Citizens.”
Opinion
Picking out just two players to praise for Wolves’ draw against Manchester City is a tough ask and quite frankly, everyone in old gold on Saturday deserved a mention. However, Collymore is right to pick out Patricio as the pick of the bunch, for his performance between the sticks was absolutely crucial – and he will have given Raheem Sterling nightmares with the wonder save he pulled off from the England forward’s fierce effort. If he can continue to pull off displays like this, Wolves are in safe hands. As for Costa, he was a constant thorn in the City defence with his rapid pace, close control and attacking flair, and he often found he had the opposition on toast at times. Might not have been able to score or grab the assist for the goal, but if he does what he did to the champions against lesser rated sides, he could well blow them all away and help the club to a respectable finish this season.