Wolves were dismantled by Manchester City on Saturday afternoon, seeing one of Gary O’Neil’s stars stand out for all the wrong reasons.
It was an afternoon to forget for Wolves at the Etihad, as Manchester City walked away with three points after beating the Old Gold 5-1.
Gary O’Neil was always going to be faced with a significant challenge in trying to beat the treble winners, who remain unbeaten at home this season, and still very much in charge of the Premier League title race.
That being said, VAR took centre stage once more when the fixture was at 0-0, as a controversial penalty was awarded to open the scoring and the floodgates.
READ MORE: Ian Wright slams ‘ridiculous’ decision by Craig Pawson during Man City v Wolves
Still, it was far from Wolves’ best performance of the season, and a million miles away from the levels shown when O’Neil’s side beat Pep Guardiola’s champions at Molineux back in September.
A host of players suffered at the hands of City yesterday afternoon however, one player stood out for all the wrong reasons.
Max Kilman was not good enough for Wolves against Manchester City
It was always going to be a trialling afternoon for Max Kilman, who was handed the task of battling Erling Haaland for 90 minutes.
The Englishman was left disorientated by the Norweigan’s mastery, as he left the Etihad with the match ball after putting four goals past Jose Sa.
Wolves watched their captain squirm in his role at attempting to keep the Premier League’s top scorer quiet, on an afternoon that saw the 26-year-old schooled by Manchester City’s talisman.
In his post-match player ratings for Express and Star, journalist Liam Keen handed Kilman a dreary 4/10 rating, branding his performance as a ‘difficult day’.
‘Kilman was pulled all over the place by Haaland and struggled to contain the striker. A difficult day at the office for the skipper.’
Gary O’Neil will want more from Max Kilman
It was an extraordinary task for the Wolves captain to overcome, but one that many would have at least liked the Englishman to attempt to impose himself on.
The 26-year-old looked far below the levels needed to compete against Manchester City, particularly when being the figure sporting the armband.
Having now conceded 17 goals in their previous nine games, it’s becoming clear just how much of an impact Craig Dawson has on the Old Gold’s back line, be it both defensively and as a leader.
Better opportunities will come for Kilman to prove his worth to the manager, with his display against the treble winners far from what is expected from the club captain.