Antoine Semenyo shines as City close gap on Arsenal with Wolves victory
Pep Guardiola has praised the impact of January signings Antoine Semenyo and Marc Guéhi after Manchester City returned to winning ways with a 2-0 Premier League victory over Wolves at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday.
Goals from Omar Marmoush and Semenyo secured City’s first league win of 2026 and halted a run of successive defeats to Manchester United and Bodo/Glimt, easing pressure on the champions as they continue their pursuit of honours on multiple fronts.
The result also reduced City’s deficit behind leaders Arsenal to four points, with Guardiola’s side now hoping for a favour when Arsenal host Manchester United on Sunday evening.
Semenyo, who joined City from Bournemouth in a £64 million deal, continued his impressive start to life under Guardiola by scoring his third goal for the club just before half-time. The Ghana international calmly guided the ball into the bottom left corner after being set up by Bernardo Silva, before later striking the crossbar in the second half.
“Antoine Semenyo came with a lot of energy and numbers; strikers are a question of numbers, and since he arrived has been unbelievable,” Guardiola said at his post-match press conference.
“He made a good goal; it looks easy but the control is perfect, passing the ball in the net. He made another chance, had another.”
The City manager later reinforced the significance of the forward’s contribution, adding: “Semenyo made an incredible impact at Bournemouth. Antoine came with incredible energy and strikers are about numbers. Since he arrived he has been unbelievable. [It was an] Incredible goal.”
Marc Guéhi, meanwhile, made his full debut following his £20 million move from Crystal Palace and delivered an assured performance in central defence alongside Abdukodir Khusanov, as City kept a much-needed clean sheet.
Despite having only two training sessions with his new teammates, the England international impressed with his composure, positioning and leadership, drawing high praise from Guardiola.
“He’s come for many years, an opportunity, the transfer is really good,” Guardiola said. “A perfect age, incredible signing for Manchester City for the next many years.”
“He’s a guy you can rely on; you see it from two training sessions – how he moves, talks, sees what happens around him, reading situations. Really good.”
Expanding further on Guéhi’s influence, Guardiola added: “Marc, I don’t need to tell you who he is. He knows everything. I remember it is similar to when Ruben arrived and he had incredible focus for every action. With the ball he has incredible composure.”
“He’s not come for six months; he’s come for many years. It was an opportunity for the price. He’s the perfect age and he’s the perfect signing for many, many years.”
Guardiola said the victory was an important response following recent setbacks and credited his players’ energy and control, particularly in the first half.
“We had to break the last results and against a team that struggled from the beginning of the season with results and have made a bit of a change with Rob [Edwards],” he said.
“We controlled early, and it was so tight. Energy was really good in the first half, then after the action from Khusanov to make a foul, we struggled a little bit, and they came forward.”
“The last 20 or 25 minutes were a little flat, but considering the amount of games and everything, it was a good result.”
City now turn their attention to Europe, with Galatasaray visiting the Etihad Stadium next week in their final UEFA Champions League group-stage fixture. Guardiola acknowledged the importance of carrying momentum into the match as City seek a top-eight finish to avoid the play-offs.
“Hopefully we can take some energy for our game on Wednesday [against Galatasaray],” he said.
