Man City wins after dropping Haaland and Tottenham salvages draw with late goal

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Manchester City's Erling Haaland sits in the dug out before the start of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

Manchester City's Antoine Semenyo, center, shoots and hits the bar during the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson) — Manchester City's Erling Haaland sits in the dug out before the start of the English Premier League soccer match between Manchester City and Wolverhampton Wanderers in Manchester, England, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. (AP Photo/Ian Hodgson)

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9:33 AM on Saturday, January 24

By STEVE DOUGLAS

Manchester City dropped Erling Haaland, gave a debut to Marc Guehi and had another goal from fellow new signing Antoine Semenyo in a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton in the Premier League on Saturday.

After alarming losses to Manchester United and Bodø/Glimt over the past week, City manager Pep Guardiola made the bold call to leave out Haaland — the league's top scorer — and Phil Foden in an effort to shake up the team and perhaps rotate ahead of a key Champions League game against Galatasaray on Wednesday.

The changes worked, albeit against a Wolves team sitting on the bottom of the standings.

Omar Marmoush and Semenyo, playing as high wingers in a tweaked tactical setup, 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.

Guehi started after completing his move from Crystal Palace on Monday and helped to shore up City's creaking defense.

Haaland entered as a substitute in the 73rd minute but didn't have a clear-cut chance.

Tottenham equalizes late

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 some respite in a Champions League win over Borussia Dortmund midweek.

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.

Liverpool was at Bournemouth in the late game Saturday.

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Steve Douglas is at https://twitter.com/sdouglas80

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer