ManCity close to consolation prize: De Bruyne scores a very important goal on his farewell tour

Kevin De Bruyne can still do it: The Belgian scores the golden goal in the penultimate home game of his great era - and brings coach Pep Guardiola's team one step closer to the consolation prize.

Manchester City moved one step closer to a positive end to their volatile season. Pep Guardiola's team beat Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-0 (1-0) on Friday evening, cementing their position in the race for the Champions League places. Departing playmaker Kevin De Bruyne scored the goal of the evening in his penultimate home game.

City jumped to third place overnight with their fifth consecutive victory. In the Premier League, the top five places qualify for the Champions League. They are four points ahead of sixth-placed Nottingham Forest. However, the surprise package has played one game less. Qualifying for the Champions League would be a consolation prize at best for the serial champions, who had previously won the Premier League four times in a row.

For De Bruyne, his goal marked a special milestone: After the great Lionel Messi, the Belgian is the second player to reach 250 goal involvements (92 goals and 158 assists) under Guardiola. Both Guardiola and De Bruyne have been at Manchester City together since 2016, collecting 19 domestic and international titles during those years. Only Manchester United legend Ryan Giggs has collected more assists (163) in Premier League history than De Bruyne (118), who joined Manchester City from VfL Wolfsburg in 2015.

"We have fallen far"

Guardiola was deeply affected by the bumpy season, in which the Sky Blues were even on the verge of elimination from the Champions League group stage at one point. "I knew we would fall at some point, but we fell far," the Spaniard said in a recent interview. "What we have achieved in the last nine years has been extraordinary, but now we need to sit down and learn to understand what we need to achieve in the future." However, with the FA Cup final (against underdogs Crystal Palace), the accustomed top club still has a chance of winning the title this season.

In November, the club somewhat surprisingly extended the successful coach's contract early until 2027. "After my contract with Manchester City expires, I will retire. I'm sure of that," Guardiola told ESPN. "I don't know if I'll end my career, but I'll take some time off." He will definitely not take over at another club.

At the Etihad Stadium, the visitors from Wolverhampton initially put in a decent performance, with Ait Nouri hitting the post (27'). City needed De Bruyne's goal to give them more confidence. The Belgian opened the scoring after a pass from fellow countryman Jeremy Doku (35'). "I'm just trying to play the best football I can. Of course, I know I have another game here, I'm just trying to do my job like I've always done, and that's what I did today," said the winner. "We know it's been a tough year. We've found a bit of a rhythm and are winning the games we need to win at the moment. So let's hope we can finish the season like that."

In the second half, the only notable incident was former Bundesliga pro Matheus Cunha's shot hitting the woodwork (56th minute), after which Manchester United controlled the game. Norwegian star striker Erling Haaland was back in the squad for the first time since his ankle injury over a month ago, but he did not play.