Manchester United suffered a frustrating 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford on Sunday afternoon.
Following what was a thrilling 5-4 extra-time win over Olympique Lyonnais, Man United would have hoped to build on that momentum with another victory over the struggling Wolves, who went into the game in 16th place.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, as United fell flat in what was a somewhat deflated display compared to the midweek.
On the stroke of 10 minutes, Noussair Mazraoui came close to giving away a penalty when he fouled Matheus Cunha on the edge of the box. Fortunately, Cunha’s free-kick was easily blocked by an alert United defence.
While United began to embark on several counter-attacks, with the likes of Alejandro Garnacho and Kobbie Mainoo bursting forward, Wolves’ defence managed to cut them out.
32 minutes in, United won a free-kick in front of the box. Christian Eriksen belted in a promising shot, which the goalkeeper tipped over the bar.
Just minutes later, Emmanuel Agbadou fouled Garnacho on the edge of the box, setting up another free-kick. On that occasion, Eriksen’s cross went wide.
A minute after the break, United got off to a flaming start, grabbing a corner with Rasmus Hojlund firing wide from close range.
In the 56th minute, Patrick Chinazaekpere Dorgu received a yellow card for a sliding tackle on Cunha.
Two minutes later, the visitors came close to opening the scoring when Wolves’ free kick earned them a corner. Cunha headed the subsequent cross wide, wasting a great scoring opportunity.
In the 59th minute, Mason Mount came on to replace Mainoo, who put in an energetic performance. Meanwhile, Manuel Ugarte made way for captain Bruno Fernandes while Diogo Dalot replaced Dorgu.
Four minutes later, Fernandes began a threatening counter, finding Eriksen in the box. The Dane laid the ball off to Garnacho, whose low cross was perfectly placed for Hojlund, who missed the ball just metres out from goal.
That was the last contribution of the afternoon from the underperforming Hojlund, who was replaced by Chido Obi five minutes later.
In the 73rd minute, Mount and Obi combined seamlessly to create a stunning counter-attack. Obi fed the ball to Garnacho on the left flank, who sent the ball into the centre, where Fernandes was prepared to strike. Unfortunately, his shot went wide, wasting another lucrative United scoring opportunity.
Just 12 minutes from time, the away end erupted. Wolves substitute Pablo Sarabia hammered a thunderous free kick into the top right corner, out of Andre Onana’s reach. 1-0 to the away side despite United’s relative dominance.
Despite United’s effort to ramp up their attack, Wolves refused to back down, with Cunha swinging in a threatening shot that Onana did well to catch.
Moments later, Mount missed a sitter when Garnacho cut the ball back to him metres away from goal. Unfortunately, Mount blasted his effort over the top. Still, there was a reason to be optimistic given United’s burst of energy.
Two minutes later, Eriksen brilliantly curved the ball into Mount in the box, who was unable to make sufficient contact with the ball to direct it goalwards.
While he appeared to go down in pain, Old Trafford was able to breathe a collective sigh of relief as the injury-prone midfielder rose to his feet and continued the game.
Six minutes of added time were announced, meaning that United still had ample time to claw their way back into the game if the Lyon match was anything to go by.
Halfway through stoppage time, Mount was brought down by Cunha outside the box, handing United a dangerous free-kick.
Unfortunately, Fernandes whipped the ball over the crossbar, letting another scoring opportunity go begging.
Just seconds before time, Eriksen whipped in a cross that the visitors headed out for what would be the final corner of the match. Strangely, Garnacho was adjudged to have committed a foul, although it wasn’t clear why.
Sadly, that was enough for the visitors to see out the match for what was another painful loss for United.
While their performance had bright spots, United were ultimately disappointing yet again, suffering their 15th loss in the Premier League this season.
Starting XI: Onana, Lindelof, Mazraoui, Hojlund, Dorgu, Eriksen, Garnacho, Ugarte, Mainoo, Amass, Fredericson
Subs: Mount, Fernandes, Dalot, Obi
Featured image Carl Recine via Getty Images
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Mathew Cohen
A faithful Manchester United supporter, Mathew has worked as a football writer and analyst for SB Nation, FanSided, and now The Peoples Person. Mathew’s heroes include David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Sir Alex Ferguson, all of whom played their part in creating some special childhood memories.
