After the Lord Mayor’s Show, we were supposed to get the Nightmare Show. But, as if to prove the ‘typical City’ tag is consigned to the dustbin of history once and for all, the Blues defied an average performance and some below-average refereeing, to eke out an important win.

The lessons of Premier League title races past were all there to see. Not least among them was the fate of Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle, who chalked up a humiliation of United similar to that which City inflicted last week.

Keegan’s breezy side smashed five past the Reds at St James Park in October 1996 to go top of the league and five points clear of their victims, who were reigning champions at the time.

But after hitting the heights, they slumped into a run of one win in their next nine league games – and United ended the season parading the trophy.

That was why this was such an important game for the Blues. There was little chance they could reach the standards they scaled at Old Trafford, not least because Wolves would show none of the ambition United chose to show, to the point of foolishness.

Mick McCarthy’s side came to frustrate and physically upset City, singling out David Silva for tackles with referee Stuart Attwell oblivious.

But Roberto Mancini knows that, even when his side do not play well, they have enough ability to create chances and the class to finish some of them.

He simply told his team to follow the usual pattern. Keep the ball, pass it well, find the space and the goals will come.

An hour into the game, City had racked up 60 per cent of the possession – a familiar statistic this season – as the Blues wear out their shadow-chasing opposition and then exert their excellence.

Composure

In the past, when City went in at half-time goalless, the fans could expect a nervous second 45 minutes, ending in the frustration of a draw or the disappointment of a sneaky opposition victory.

That is also a thing of the past.

It is almost a year since City failed to score at home, a 29-match run stretching back to the 0-0 draw with Birmingham last season. For 52 minutes, raw-boned Wolves managed to hold the Blues off.

Goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey was the main tormentor from the moment he tipped over Samir Nasri’s fierce dipping volley after two minutes of the game.

With Micah Richards marking his 200th game for City by tearing chunks out of the Wolves left flank in a typically powerful attacking display, and Aleks Kolarov doing a similar job on the other side, the visitors were exposed time after time.

But Hennessey denied Sergio Aguero with one stunning save and then bettered it with a clawing touch to Edin Dzeko’s shot.

Inspiration

With Aguero misfiring on two other occasions and Dzeko also fluffing a chance from a Richards cross, City were seeking some inspiration.

They didn’t get any from the referee. When Nasri chipped a cross for the lurking Dzeko, Richard Stearman stopped the big Bosnian from rising for a header by placing both arms around his throat.

The fact that the ball fell for the well-placed Silva, whose shot was superbly blocked by Stearman – having released his death grip on the bemused Dzeko – is immaterial.

Stearman went on to commit at least two more yellow card offences but ended the game with no blemish against his name.

But there was little point in City, fans and players alike, letting the frustration get to them. They have to learn to swallow injustice, real or perceived, and get on with the task of winning matches.

The fact that they did, even absorbing the fact that they lost skipper Vincent Kompany with 20 minutes to go, tells you all you need to know about their title credentials.

By that point, they had forged ahead by two goals. Luck is also a vital ingredient for teams who win the big one and City got a dollop on 52 minutes. Of course, Aguero follows the maxim of getting luckier the harder he works so, when he chased down a back-pass to ­Hennessey, it was more in hope than in expectation.

But Hennessey chose to take a touch, made it a heavy one, and Aguero’s pace allowed him to charge down the kick.

The ball squirted to Dzeko at chest height and he calmly controlled and lobbed it into the empty net.

Fifteen minutes later and it looked like City had sealed the result when Silva’s low shot from the edge of the area could only be parried out by Hennessey and there was Kolarov to score – the left back on hand with a goal poacher’s finish.

Factor

Then we saw another big factor in Mancini’s success this season –  his astute use of substitutes.

No fewer than eight goals have been scored by men coming off the bench this season, five of them important goals which either broke the deadlock or secured victory.

The arrival of Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson had a similar effect here.

Replays of Kompany’s bundle into the back of Kevin Doyle as both turned to pursue Adlene Guedioura’s shot as it bounced off the hands of Joe Hart, are ­inconclusive.

First impressions were that it was a simple coming-together rather than a deliberate shove, and Kompany was adamant he had done nothing wrong.

Compared to Stearman’s unpunished offence in the first half, it was dubious to say the least.

But Mr Attwell pointed to the spot, showed Kompany red and Stephen Hunt’s kick ensured a nervous finale to the game.

Wolves pressed for an equaliser only to find old boy Joleon Lescott and his defence in determined mood.

And as the anxiety cranked up to maximum, the super subs struck. Balotelli led a charge down the length of the field and fed the supporting Yaya Toure. He cleverly held the ball and then slipped it for Adam Johnson to fire in a bouncing 30-yarder which deceived Hennessey. Game over.

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