It was a day heavy with exultation and one that nobody in the packed Hongkou Stadium will forget as Wolverhampton Wanderers outdid English champions Manchester City to clinch the Premier League Asia Trophy 3-2 in a penalty shootout in Shanghai on Saturday night. 

There were many captivating moments, but none more so than the sight of Hong Wan, a London-born player of Chinese heritage, being ushered into the fray with less than 10 minutes to play while Wolves supporters enthusiastically chanted his name.

The 18-year-old Hong, whose father is Chinese, captained Yeovil Town's under-18 side before joining Wolverhampton Wanderers in May. But he never could have anticipated the raucous welcome on his return to China and looked overcome by it all as he collected his first medal in senior professional soccer.

Wolves manager Nuno Espirito Santo's beaming smile was an image to remember after the win and he proclaimed he was truly "happy" to beat a strong City side. As ever, though, the Portuguese was wary of letting anyone get carried away, with a Europa League qualifier next week possibly in mind.

"All the things we've accomplished have been good in preparation for the future because that's what counts most," observed Nuno. "We are progressing and improving towards what we want, day by day reaching our high standards."

The former Porto and Valencia boss, who led Wolves to an exceptional seventh-place finish in their first season back in the Premier League, also paid tribute to Hong and other promising youngsters coming off the bench in the latter stage of the game, singling out their contribution to the hard-fought-for triumph.

"We're still building the squad, but the young boys will always be back-ups. The way they performed today helped us, it was important that they had minutes, so it's a good process," said Nuno. "The boys are here, they still have to develop and improve a lot and we go side by side with them, trying to be better players for the future."

The young contingent on the pitch might have coped better with the stifling heat and oppressive humidity in Shanghai, but their opponents did not disappoint either.

On the eve of the final, City manager Pep Guardiola had grumbled about the "incredible jet lag" being suffered by his players after their arrival in China. Yet they exhibited no signs of fatigue on the night as the Blues effortlessly dominated possession and controlled the rhythm with excellent combination play.

Wolves looked surprisingly edgy in the opening exchanges but showed no nerves in the key moments when a relentless Kevin De Bruyne drove his side against Nuno's defiant men.

Raheem Sterling should have punished Wolves' sloppy start in the second minute but could not find a way past Rui Patricio. The Portuguese goalkeeper, in the form of his life, had a good night as Sterling and Aymeric Laporte were next to be denied from point-blank range. 

A glorious opportunity to break the deadlock arose when Leroy Sane was brought down inside the box by Adama Traore, but the lively Sterling again spurned the chance by blazing the resulting spot kick over the bar.

If Wolves' yellow-clad fans, who unfurled an impressively giant tifo in the stand, feared they were in for a long night, the rest of the half was far more encouraging. City seemed to struggle without the dominant presence of Sergio Aguero and Gabriel Jesus.

While Diogo Jota and Joao Moutinho both tried to make inroads and went close, the best chance of of the second period fell at the feet of David Silva, but Patricio came to the rescue yet again as he produced a stunning save to prevent the City veteran's spectacular free-kick heading for the top corner.

As the tempo dropped off, the crowd embarked on rounds of Mexican waves to entertain themselves and Chinese City supporters belted out a series of chants for their heroes, pulling out all the stops to make the "Citizens" feel like they were back at their Etihad home ground.

Then it was penalties. Amid the cauldron of noise, the ever-reliant Patricio took on the responsibility and held his composure, keeping out spot-kicks from Ilkay Gundogan, David Silva and Lukas Nmecha. And with Wolves putting all but one away, it was Nuno's plucky side that eventually came out on top, rounding off a memorable pre-season tour of China.

The plot twist at the end didn't go City's way, but Pep Guardiola insisted he was encouraged by the fine display of the Premier League champions.

"Everybody, not just the young players, played well today. We're going to learn from here and it's a good thing," he said. "We created chances and missed the penalty, but overall it was a good performance with no injuries so it was a good game for us."

As for Hong, this career-defining win on a raucous night in Shanghai might have helped him inch a little bit closer to his long-standing aspiration to be called up to the Chinese national team in the not too distant future.

"I'd love to play for China, especially being a Chinese," said Hong. "Representing China both on the national side and being a Chinese player in the Premier League will be a dream come true for myself."