Match report
Ugly 1-0 wins are a mark of potential champions, so United will take great pleasure from that - especially as they have struggled to win games likes these in the last few years. Marcus Rashford’s deflected injury-time goal puts them second in the table, two points behind Liverpool. You have to feel for Wolves, whose youngsters defended almost flawlessly and deserved a 0-0 draw. Thanks for your company, goodnight!
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Full time: Man Utd 1-0 Wolves
Manchester United move up to second with the ugliest of victories.
90+5 min Scott McTominay replaces Bruno Fernandes.
That is so harsh on Wolves. Fernandes started the move with a booming crossfield pass to find Rashford on the right of the area. He faced up Ait-Nouri, twisting this way and that before hitting a left-footed shot that deflected off the chest of Saiss and wrongfooted Rui Patricio. It’s Rashford’s goal I think.
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GOAL! Man Utd 1-0 Wolves (Rashford 90+3)
Manchester United have nicked it!
RA
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90+3 min Martial was touched very slightly by Neves during that run. It wasn’t a foul, but had he gone down, in the current climate, it would probably have been given.
90+2 min Martial does brilliantly to wriggle away from two defenders just inside the area, but Saiss comes across to make his umpteeth interception of the night.
90+1 min Five minutes of added time. Steve Bruce is getting ready to come on.
90 min Pogba plays a one-two-three with Martial and tries to move away from Hoever, who wins the ball immaculately and is then fouled by Pogba. He’s been so good.
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89 min They could play until 2021 and it would probably still be goalless.
87 min This has been a near perfect defensive away performance from Wolves.
85 min Shaw fires a sharp pass into Fernandes, unmarked 25 yards out. His first touch is perfect, teeing himself up for a vicious shot that is superbly blocked by Coady. Fernandes appealed for a penalty but there was nothing wrong with it.
84 min David de Gea is rolling round in pain. He threw the ball out and then accidentally ran straight into Adama Traore, which is one of the less rewarding things you can do on a football field. After a bit of treatment, de Gea is okay to continue.
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82 min Wolves’ young defenders - Hoever, Kilman and especially Ait-Nouri - have been brilliant.
81 min Moutinho flips a delicious outside-of-the-foot pass over the defence for Ait-Nouri, who surges into the area and drives a cross shot from a very tight angle that is pushed away by de Gea. Happily for him it goes straight to Maguire rather than Fabio Silva.
79 min Saiss makes a great block from Rashford, though again the flag went up once the attack was completed.
77 min Fernandes and Pogba combine nicely to find Martial unmarked on the edge of the D. He hammers a first-time shot over the bar. United have been better in the last 10 minutes though, with Pogba and Fernandes much more influential.
76 min Both teams have one substitution remaining, though there’s no sign yet of Donny van de Beek, or Axel Tuanzebe for that matter.
75 min Pogba, found by Fernandes, hits a blistering long-range shot that is well held to his left by Rui Patricio.
74 min “Fabio Silva,” says Gary Naylor, “looks like an extra in a Derek Jarman movie.”
73 min Rui Patricio is booked for timewasting.
73 min “Hi Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “If Matt’s needing a bit of a pick me up, and let’s be honest, why wouldn’t he after the year Liverpool have had, he can have a #hoorayfordony from me for nothing.”
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72 min de Gea makes another good reaction save from Saiss, who was up for a corner. The flag went up subsequently so it wouldn’t have counted.
No penalty! That would have been given earlier in the season but not now, and thank goodness for that.
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69 min: Cavani has a goal disallowed for offside! United are appealing for handball just before that. Bailly’s header hit the hand of Coady, and then Cavani - who was offside from the header - swept it past Rui Patricio. Coady’s hand was slightly away from his body, but I think it would be very harsh to give this.
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69 min Pogba crosses low towards Cavani, who is just beaten to the ball by Saiss. Corner to United...
68 min Wolves make another change: Fabio Silva on, Pedro Neto off.
65 min Ait-Nouri is also down receiving treatment on his left arm.
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64 min Anthony Martial does indeed replace Mason Greenwood. He goes left, Rashford moves right.
64 min Fernandes’s cross is headed over by Rashford, under a lot of pressure from Coady. It wasn’t much of a chance. Podence was down at the time, so Wolves wouldn’t have been thrilled had that gone in.
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63 min Wolves have been the better team in the second half. Traore plays in the overlapping Hoever, whose chipped cross is headed away by Bailly. The 18-year-old Hoever has been ever so impressive at right wing-back.
62 min Anthony Martial is about to come on, probably for the disappointing Mason Greenwood.
61 min “Just catching up with events so far, scrolled back through the coverage and saw Neil Carter’s questions about van de Beek,” says Matt Dony. “In my haste, I mis-read his hashtag, and thought it was some long-overdue positivity aimed at me. Ah well. Maybe next year will be my year. Matt Dony (with just the one N).”
60 min Bruno Fernandes plays a good pass to Greenwood on the right edge of the area. He tries to beat Ait-Nouri with a stepover but Kilman comes across to calmly lift the ball over Greenwood and clear the danger.
59 min “Sweepstake for the minute Donny will get on the pitch?” says Neil Carter. “I’ll go for 75th.”
I’ll go next year.
57 min Rashford, by far United’s liveliest attacker, plays the ball infield to Pogba and keeps running. Pogba tries to find him with a return pass over the top, but Rui Patricio gets there first.
56 min It’s been a textbook away performance from Wolves. United never have an easy game against them and, even allowing for the form of both sides, it was naive to expect anything different tonight.
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55 min “How on earth was a shoulder charge a booking????” asks Martin Lancon.
When did that happen? Have I missed something?
54 min Wolves make their first change: the excellent Daniel Podence replaces Vitinha, who made a promising full debut.
52 min Can you wake me up when something happens?
51 min Pogba, who is having a stinker, again plays a long pass straight to Rui Patricio.
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50 min Rashford is booked for a retaliatory foul on Hoever, who had (fairly) taken man and ball a few seconds earlier.
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49 min The second half has started pretty sluggishly. I don’t know what else to say.
46 min Shaw wins a free-kick on the left wing straight away. Bruno Fernandes’s inswinger is headed away by Ruben Neves.
46 min Peep peep! United begin the second half. Luke Shaw has replaced Alex Telles, who is presumably injured.
Half-time reading
Half-time duty
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Half time: Man Utd 0-0 Wolves
Peep peep! In recent years, Manchester United plus Wolves has equalled binary, and that was a typical half of football between them. Wolves defended excellently to frustrate United, while looking dangerous enough on the break to keep Nuno happy. Bruno Fernandes missed the best chance - but that was United’s only shot on target. They might need a plan B in the second half, or even a plan DvdB.
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45+1 min Another dangerous attack from Wolves. Neto wriggles into the area from the right and tries to cut back inside Maguire, who makes an excellent, probably goal-saving challenge. At the other end, Rashford miscontrols when through on goal. The flag went up after that so I don’t think it would have counted, but it was a poor touch.
45 min Wolves break dangerously again, and Neto has the chance to put Traore through with an angled pass from right to left. But it’s slightly underhit, which allows Bailly to make a vital interception on the edge of the area.
44 min Rashford waits for the overlapping Bruno Fernandes and plays him on the left side of the area. Fernandes hammers a cross that flashes past everyone in the six-yard box. It wasn’t a great ball actually, with only Cavani in the area.
42 min There’s a break in play while Ait-Nouri receives treatment, having fallen awkwardly after an aerial challenge with Rashford. It allows the TV director to focus on Sir Alex Ferguson, sitting in the stands wearing a jaunty tweed cap. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the great man in a flat cap before.
40 min “Team with loads of dosh and poor coach being outplayed by the opposite,” says Tim Stappard.
Yes, an abysmal coach. I hear he can’t even spell his own name.
39 min: Good save from de Gea! Neto hammers the free-kick towards the near post, where Saiss gets in front of Rashford and flicks the ball towards goal. David de Gea reacts smartly to punch it behind for a corner.
38 min Rashford goes over in the area after a challenge from Moutinho. It wasn’t a foul: Rashford jumped to avoid a collision with Moutinho and fell over. Wolves break and Neto is fouled just outside the penalty area on the right by Maguire.
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37 min Hoever is bit lucky not to be booked for a late tackle on Telles.
35 min “Quicker! Quicker!” screams somebody on the United bench.
34 min: Good save from Rui Patricio! Bruno Fernandes has missed a good chance to put United ahead. Greenwood cut inside from the right and curled a fine cross to the far post, where Fernandes got on the wrong side of Hoever and twisted in mid-air to flick a volley towards goal from six yards. It was straight at Rui Patricio who pushed it away, and Cavani, facing away from goal, couldn’t put the rebound away on the stretch. Fernandes’s was the bigger chance.
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33 min Rashford appeals for a penalty after being manhandled by Coady in the area. The ball had gone out of play just beforehand, and it wasn’t a foul anyway.
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31 min Neto goes down holding his face after a block from Matic, who led with his forearm. VAR has a look and decides there’s nothing in it, rightly so in my eternally humble opinion. He should have been booked but VAR can only intervene if it’s a red-card offence.
30 min Shots on target so far: Man Utd 0-3 Wolves.
29 min Fernandes frees Wan-Bissaka on the right. His cross is poor, straight at Moutinho. Wan-Bissaka’s attacking play is a big problem for United at home, especially as they have no right-footed right-wingers.
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28 min Neto’s driven cross is half cleared by Bailly. Ait-Nouri picks up the loose ball on the edge of the area but drives it miles wide with his right foot. But Wolves look good going forward.
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26 min Rashford runs Hoever in the area, turns neatly back onto his right foot and tries to pick out Fernandes near the penalty spot. The ball is poked clear but Telles returns it to Matic, whose cross skims the head of the stretching Cavani and drifts wide. It wouldn’t have counted anyway; replays show he was just offside.
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24 min The tempo of United’s attacking play has been too slow. This often happens at the start of games, especially at home. Sometimes they look like a team waiting to go 1-0 down.
23 min: Wolves hit the bar! Moutinho’s free-kick is met by Saiss, whose looping header hits the top of the bar. I think de Gea had it covered, but it was pretty close.
21 min Wolves continue to keep United at arm’s length without too much difficulty. Ait-Nouri breaks into space down the left and puts in a cross that is cleared by Maguire. Wolves have got into some good positions on the counter-attack.
18 min Telles’s cross is cleared as far as Fernandes, 25 yards from goal. He runs round the ball and rakes a shot that is blocked.
17 min Bruno Fernandes is coming into the game a bit more, which will encourage United. He barely touched the ball in the first 10 minutes.
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14 min Fernandes plays a one-two with Greenwood and slides a little pass towards Cavani in the area. He flicks it behind his standing leg to nobody when he might have been better off going for goal. At the moment United are struggling to find an eye in the Wolves needle.
13 min A long-range stinger from Ruben Neves is punched away by de Gea; then Neto has a shot blocked by Wolves. This is good stuff from Wolves, who have been the better side so far.
12 min Pogba looks up and swishes a beautiful 80-yard pass straight into the arms of Rui Patricio.
11 min Vitinha finds a bit of space between the lines and hits a good 20-yard shot that is pushed away by the sprawling de Gea. Wolves look perky in possession.
10 min Possession so far: Man Utd 60-40 Wolves. But Wolves will be pleased with their start, which has been pretty comfortable.
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9 min Rashford’s speculative long-range shot wobbles a few yards wide. It almost turned into a decent cross for Cavani.
8 min Traore beats three players and finds Neto on the edge of the box. He whips a right-footed shot that is comfortably saved by de Gea. That’s the first shot on target at either end.
8 min Wolves’ defence is very narrow, inviting United to go down the side. That’s why Telles has been on the ball so much in the first few minutes because there’s very little space in central areas.
7 min There’s plenty of space for Wolves to play when they do get on the ball. Moutinho tries to put Traore through on goal but he can’t find the right angle for the pass and the ball runs through to de Gea.
6 min “Hiya Rob,” says Paul Howarth. “I remember as a United fan in the 70s, walking to Molineux singing ‘We’ll be top, We’ll be top by Five O’clock’. Anyway, we lost, so we weren’t.”
Were you there for the FA Cup game in 1976? That sounds like a helluva night.
4 min Lots of early United possession, with Telles involved in most things on the left.
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3 min Telles and Rashford try to work a short corner, and make a Horlicks of it.
3 min Telles breaks down the left and curls in a good cross that is put behind for the first corner by Saiss.
2 min “Leeds though, eh, Rob,” says Simon McMahon. “The thinking man’s Man United?”
Simon McMahon’s email address is available for a small fee, and his postal address for a slightly larger one.
1 min Peep peep! Wolves, in the old gold, kick off from right to left. Manchester United are in red.
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Episode 4 of United Rewind is OUT NOW!@DanielHarris and Rob Smyth revisit a brilliant performance from the 1995/96 double-winners as they out-play and out-muscle title rivals Newcastle in December 1995.
— United Rewind (@unitedrewind) December 23, 2020
(Includes in-depth haircut chat)
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“Tough job for Hoever against that United front three - guess he’ll just have to suck it up,” says Felix Wood. “I’m not sorry.”
“If Wolves do score tonight,” says Kevin Porter, “it will be from outside the box, because nobody in the starting XI is going to venture there. Feeling very pessimistic as befits 2020 and indeed 2021 for whom someone will hold its beer.”
Adama Traore is due. Just putting that out there for consideration.
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Big Sam 0-5 Bielsa, and other stories
Pre-match reading
“Hey Rob,” says Neil Carter. “Answer me this, has Donny done something wrong? Is he a bad person? WHAT IS WRONG WITH DONNY? #Pray for Donny.”
It’s hard to know for sure, because Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won’t reply to my 2am WhatsApps, but my instinct is that he’s the equivalent of buying an expensive pair of jeans one size too small and privately vowing you’ll fit into them, only to find that life gets in the way. But the good news is it’s never too late to change your waistline/association football tactics!
Team news
Man Utd make six changes from the team that draw at Leicester, with Edinson Cavani and Paul Pogba among those coming into the side. Victor Lindelof is injured, so Eric Bailly continues at centre-back.
Ki-Jana Hoever, the teenage defender signed from Liverpool, and Vitinha make their full Premier League debut for Wolves. Hoever replaces Nelson Semedo in one of four changes from the 1-1 draw with Spurs on whatever day of the week the 27th was. It looks like Wolves have returned to a back three.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) de Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Telles; Matic, Pogba; Greenwood, Fernandes, Rashford; Cavani.
Substitutes: Henderson, Shaw, Tuanzebe, Mata, Fred, James, van de Beek, McTominay, Martial.
Wolves (3-4-1-2) Rui Patricio; Kilman, Coady, Saiss; Hoever, Neves, Moutinho, Ait-Nouri; Vitinha; Traore, Neto.
Substitutes: Ruddy, Semedo, Marques, Richards, Podence, Otasowie, Cundle, Fabio Silva, Corbeanu.
Referee Jon Moss.
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There are four Premier League games occuring as we speak, and Leeds have already scored four at the Hawthorns. Scott Murray has more news.
Preamble
Hello. For Manchester United, Wolves at home is an appropriate way to end 2020. It’s where the year started – not on the first of January but on the first of February, when their new £47m signing Bruno Fernandes came straight off a plane to partially enliven a tedious 0-0 draw against Wolves. Fernandes quickly became United’s greatest catalyst since Eric Cantona; since he signed, only Liverpool (61) have taken more Premier League points than United’s 59. And United have played a game fewer.
It’s one thing to keep pace with Liverpool across two halves of different seasons, quite another to do it for a full season. If United win tonight they will go second, two points behind Liverpool in the real quiz, and expectation of an unlikely title challenge will grow a little more. With that comes hope, excitement – and pressure.
Manchester United players always do their work under pressure. But there are degrees of pressure, and for most of this year the United players have been most successful when striving to finish in the top four or save their manager’s job. The pressure of challenging for trophies – especially a league title – is much greater. We’ll soon find out whether this United team are serious contenders, or whether they are poster boys for fairweather brilliance.
After tonight they play Aston Villa at home on New Year’s Day – and then, two weeks later, go to Anfield for a potential humdinger. Seven points from those three games would do nicely for United. If they get nine out of nine, there will be a major outbreak of giddiness in the Manchester area.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has sensibly played down their title chances. He is smart enough to know how quickly things change in the coverage of United, and that he will always be one or two defeats away from a crisis. Nor will he won’t take tonight’s game for granted. Leeds, who were thumped 6-2 in United’s last home game, were perfect opponents. Wolves are the opposite: streetwise counter-attackers who play to United’s weaknesses.
Since Wolves were promoted two years ago, they have played United seven times in all competitions. United have won only one game and scored four goals. Then again, six of those matches were Before Bruno, and the world was a very different place then.
Kick off 8pm.
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