Bruno Fernandes wasn’t at his best against Wolves, but his quality still shone through, registering yet another goal involvement for Manchester United.
With Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side labouring at Old Trafford, it looked as if the spoils would be shared on a frustrating night.
However, with time almost up, the Portuguese found Marcus Rashford, whose deflected strike earned United all three points.
The assist, his ninth of the season, brings his total goal involvements to a staggering 23 in 23 matches.
On the goal itself, Rashford admitted he had noticed Wolves full-back Rayan-Ait Nouri’s tired legs, believing he could exploit it.
"It’s the deciding goal," Rashford told Amazon Prime. "Probably not the most beautiful but we will take what we can get and take the three points and move on.
"Today was tough but we expected a tough game but managed to get over the line.
"The full-back had cramp a few minutes before so I just had it in my head I wanted to go at him and make him chop and turn and just see if I could make something happen and thankfully in the end we got a deflection.
"It means a lot. We were a little disappointed that we didn’t play as well as we wanted to or could have but it is three points and no matter how scrappy it was we will take it."
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Despite Fernandes’ crucial intervention, it was a victory built on solid foundations, as United picked up their fourth clean sheet of the Premier League season.
And he was quick to point out that it was the defensive work that played such a critical role.
Replying to Eric Bailly on social media, Fernandes recognised him as “man of the match” for his commanding display.
Bailly was handed just his third league start of the season, partnering Harry Maguire at the heart of Solskjaer’s defence, giving the Norwegian a major dilemma for the New Year’s Day clash with Aston Villa.
