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 alarming back-to-back defeats with a 2-0 win over last-placed Wolverhampton.
Liverpool's 13-match unbeaten run ended, though, after conceding off virtually the last kick of the game to lose 3-2 at Bournemouth.
Without Haaland, Omar Marmoush and Antoine Semenyo played as high wingers in a tweaked tactical setup and 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 on Monday and helped to shore up City’s defense that was creaking in woeful losses to and 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.”
Guardiola spent more time raging at standards of officiating after Farai Hallam, a referee taking charge of his first Premier League game, refused to give City a penalty when the score was 1-0 after Marmoush flicked the ball against Wolves defender Yerson Mosquera’s arm. Hallam stuck by his original verdict after VAR asked him to review his decision on the pitchside monitor.
“The referee made a huge debut — now everybody will know him," Guardiola said.
Second-placed City moved four points behind Arsenal, which hosts Manchester United on Sunday.
Liverpool concedes last-gasp winner
Amine Adli bundled home a scrappy winner for Bournemouth in the fifth minute of stoppage time, just when it looked as if Liverpool would earn a point after fighting back from two goals down.
Goals by Virgil van Dijk and Dominik Szoboszlai — with a curling shot off a free kick in the 80th — completed Liverpool's comeback but there was a twist in the tail.
“It is a cruel game if you lose in extra time after coming back from 2-0 down at halftime," Liverpool manager Arne Slot said.
Liverpool had drawn its previous four league games, so was now on a five-match winless run, and was vulnerable in fourth place in a disappointing title defense.
Pressure back on Frank
Cristian Romero equalized in the 90th to salvage a 2-2 draw for Tottenham at next-to-last Burnley.
Still, it was a disappointing result for under-pressure Tottenham manager Thomas Frank, who was on the receiving end of criticism from his team's own fans during a home loss to West Ham last weekend only to get in a Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund midweek.
The attacks from supporters resumed at Burnley.
“The message to the fans, as I’ve said all the time, is that we’re working very hard to make sure everything is going (in) the right direction,” Frank said, “and that we’ll keep doing that.”
Fulham also scored late and it was a winner; Harry Wilson's strike earned a come-from-behind 2-1 victory over Brighton.
West Ham boosts survival bid
West Ham's bid to escape the Premier League relegation zone gathered pace after beating Sunderland 3-1.
It was a second straight victory for West Ham, which surged into a three-goal lead by the 43rd minute thanks to Crysencio Summerville’s header, Jarrod Bowen's penalty, and a long-range strike by Mateus Fernandes.
Brian Brobbey scored for Sunderland in the second half.
West Ham, whose win at Tottenham last weekend was its first win in any competition since early November, stayed in the bottom three but was just two points behind fourth-to-last Nottingham Forest. Forest visits Brentford on Sunday.
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