As Pep Guardiola endured an excruciating afternoon sitting high in the stand at Molineux, the absence of Rodri will have felt even more consequential.
Rodri’s suspension cannot end quickly enough for Manchester City as their unbeaten record in the Premier League ended against a Wolves team brimming with verve and vigour.
Though Kevin De Bruyne’s injury is a significant blow for Guardiola, a second defeat inside a week only underlined the huge importance of Rodri to this winning machine.
Rodri is the leader, the glue who holds the treble winners together, and with him missing Wolves were brilliant on the counter-attack, exposing gaps and exploiting space.
Guardiola admitted he was “angry” last weekend after the midfielder’s red card against Nottingham Forest and his mood will have darkened here.
The City manager served a touchline ban after being shown a third yellow card of the season in the Carabao Cup defeat at Newcastle and this was a chastening afternoon.
It was also a miserable return for £53m midfielder Matheus Nunes, whose every touch was jeered by the home support before he was mercilessly taken off at half-time.
What a result for Wolves and head coach Gary O’Neil, who thoroughly deserved their first home win of the season.
While much of the focus was on Nunes, it was another Portugal international, Pedro Neto, who produced the eye-catching performance of the afternoon.
The experience of Craig Dawson was also crucial as Erling Haaland had one of those games where he was on the periphery.
Neto was a constant threat on the left flank and it was a moment of individual brilliance which gave Wolves the lead.
Picking the ball up in his own half, Neto burst down the right, eluding Phil Foden and Nathan Ake to advance into the penalty area, with his cross taking a huge deflection off Ruben Dias to beat Ederson.
It was the fourth time in five matches that City have gone behind, perhaps suggesting some fallibility despite their formidable start. Their early rhythm and control was damaged and the game became fragmented.
Haaland’s every move was shadowed by Dawson and on the rare occasions he escaped the Wolves defender he was swarmed out of possession.
Yet the warning signs were there for Wolves, who had dominated Liverpool for 45 minutes in their last Molineux outing but still ended up losing.
City were level 13 minutes into the second half, after a controversial moment in which Joao Gomes was harshly adjudged to have fouled Nunes’s replacement Oscar Bobb on the edge of the area.
Julian Alvarez bent a wicked free-kick into the top corner, eliciting a brief series of handclaps from Guardiola.
Wolves required Dawson to clear off the line from Foden but seconds later they were back ahead after bedlam in the City penalty area.
Nelson Semedo’s cross inflicted panic and though Hee Chan Hwang’s first shot was blocked by Dias, Matheus Cunha intelligently played the ball back into his path and he crashed home.
“Nunes, what’s the score?” chanted the Wolves fans at the end of a stormy yet enthralling contest.
Flanked by director of football Txiki Begiristain and Manel Estiarte, with his arms folded for much of the match, Guardiola will be counting down the days until he can return to the technical area.
Rodri has another game before his suspension is complete, but there is no denying that he is their MVP.
