Solskjær defends his two penalty-takers system
That’s it for tonight’s blog. I’ll leave you with the brilliant Paul Doyle’s match report from Molineux. Night!
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer speaks
“We knew they would come out like a house on fire in the second half, and they got the goal they probably deserved. We took control again after that and we could have won it. I thought we finished the game the strongest. The first half was a mature performance, the second was a bit sloppier. We’re a young team and we are improving. You have to learn on the pitch.
“Paul and Marcus are the designated penalty-takers, and it’s up to them to decide there and then who feels, ‘This is mine.’ That’s our system, you can see the slides on the Powerpoint. [Will it change?] No, not at all. The two of them have been very confident and I like players with confidence.
“I don’t think it was a booking [for Daniel James]. I haven’t seen the video; if you’ve got it, show it me, but when I saw it live I didn’t think it was a dive. He gets kicked a lot because of his pace.”
Ruben Neves speaks
“We had to adjust at half-time. Man Utd started really well, pressed us high up the pitch, and we found it difficult to control the game. We adjusted, took some risks and did well in the second half.
“We worked on that corner during the week, and fortunately I scored. I’m really happy. It’s horrible, honestly [waiting for VAR], but that’s football now. Thankfully this time they gave us the goal.”
Sky’s football coverage is great, part 431242342389
Gary Neville: “It’s not like ... spin the bottle.”
Jamie Carragher: “Who’ve you played spin the bottle with?!”
That was Pogba’s fourth penalty miss in a year. He’s missed 36 per cent of his Premier League penalties. Marcus Rashford, I think, has missed 0 per cent of his in senior football.
Neville is properly on one about the penalty. He’s said “this is not right” umpteen times. “This is a Manchester United penalty. This is not a tombola. This is not under-5s on the playground.”
Here’s Gary Neville on Paul Pogba
“Before he even took the penalty I was fuming. I’m not sure whether Rashford took the one off Pogba last week or vice versa tonight. Why is there a debate on who takes a penalty? There should never be a debate. There wasn’t a leader on the pitch tonight. Something’s not right there. At first I thought, ‘It’s typical you, you’re selfish, why are you even thinking about taking a penalty off a player?’ But we’ve looked at the footage of last week’s penalty and Pogba and Rashford had a long chat before that as well. It’s weird. Only Ole Gunnar Solskjaer can tell us what happened.”
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Well, that was a lot of fun. Martial scored a fine goal, Neves equalised with a scorcher and Pogba missed a penalty. Both teams will feel they could have won, United in particular, but both will be reasonably happy with a point.
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United almost stole it at the last, when Pogba’s low cross just evaded Martial. Shaw spanked the loose ball at Patricio but by then Pereira had been penalised for blocking a defender.
Full time: Wolves 1-1 Manchester United
Peep peep!
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90+3 min Nothing much is happening.
90+1 min Another Wolves sub: Patrick Cutrone replaces the marvellous Raul Jimenez.
90+1 min Four minutes of added time. Neto tries to run Wan-Bissaka, who stalks him and makes another fine interception.
90 min Maguire slides a nice pass down the inside-left channel to find Martial, who is wrongly flagged offside.
89 min A double change for United: Greenwood replaces James, Pereira replaces Rashford.
88 min “The incessant moaning about VAR is worse than any amount of time ‘wasted’ on getting correct refereeing decisions,” says Gustav Björklund. “If we didn’t have VAR tonight, former top 6 club players turned pundits would be zooming in on still footage with evidence of error in refeering, complaining that it was missed, or saying they got away with it, based on which club they played for. That is not a better system. It doesn’t matter if someone is 5 millimeters or 5 meters offside - the rule still applies, and he same goes for handball or any other offence. It’s the same as before, where a human referee makes a judgement call, helped by the three other officials in the stadium, only now the ref on the pitch is helped on by yet another ref, this one in a shed near Heathrow. The moaning has to stop.”
But what about the people moaning about the people moaning?
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87 min A Wolves sub: Neto on, Jota off.
86 min Wolves break superbly down the left through Jota, whose deep cross is screwed over the bar from a tight angle by Dendoncker.
85 min And this is no different, Mata failing to clear the first man.
85 min James beats Jota superbly and finds Wan-Bissaka, whose cross deflects behind for a corner. United’s set-pieces have been poor tonight.
85 min “I’d prefer to see VAR quietly buried and never spoken of again,” says Ciarán McCabe. “But if it is here to stay, how about a time limit? If the VAR team cannot decide within 30 seconds of the incident with the aid of replays there was no clear and obvious error. Play on!”
I like the idea in principle, but I’ve a feeling there would be unforeseeable fiascos.
84 min Wan-Bissaka is booked for blocking the ball with his shoulder. Jon Moss, the referee, hasn’t had a great game.
82 min Traore beats Shaw yet again and swings a high cross towards Jota beyond the far post. He tries to head the ball back into the far corner but plants it straight at de Gea.
81 min Juan Mata replaces Jesse Lingard, who had a fair-to-mediocre game. At his best Lingard is a deceptively dangerous player, but he hasn’t been at his best for a while now.
80 min Traore beats three players on a storming run before driving a dangerous low cross that is cleared by Lindelof.
79 min I certainly don’t think Rashford bottled the penalty - he took one in a World Cup match, and also scored the winner against PSG. I suspect he is slightly in awe of Pogba and deferred to him.
78 min An execrable pass from Shaw gives Wolves the chance to break, but Wan-Bissaka makes an important interception. He’s had an outstanding game.
77 min Rashford’s curler from the edge of the box is blocked by Bennett, and then James - who has had a good second half - wins a corner.
75 min I did Pogba a disservice. What seems to have happened is this: Pogba picked the ball up, having won the penalty, and Rashford was happy for him to take it. It’s still a load of nonsense, though, because Rashford is a far better penalty taker.
73 min Wolves are chasing not just a hat-trick of wins, but a hat-trick of 2-1 wins against Manchester United at Molineux this year. I don’t think this game will end 1-1.
72 min “Surely VAR has got to bring in the equivalent of the ‘umpire’s call’ rule in cricket - either that or hire an anatomist to decide where a shoulder becomes an arm,” says Dan C. “The theatre of the Neves goal was ruined by 2 minutes watching someone move a line a few pixels back and forth, it’s kind of pathetic.”
I’d get rid of the whole sorry shambles. But assuming we are stuck with it, they should definitely introduce something like that for offsides.
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70 min James scurries into the box and has a shot blocked by Coady. This has been a cracking second half.
69 min I would suggest that Gary Neville’s views on that penalty may be worth watching after the game. It seems Pogba pulled rank on Rashford, even though Rashford is a much better penalty taker.
RUI PATRICIO SAVES IT!
68 min Nice one, Paul. He bulleted the penalty towards goal, and Patricio flew to his right to beat it away. It wasn’t a terrible penalty, but it was at a saveable height. And when you pull a stunt like, you’d better score.
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Marcus Rashford took the penalty last week - but Pogba is going to take this.
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PENALTY TO MANCHESTER UNITED!
67 min Coady is penalised for fouling Pogba, and there are no complaints.
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67 min Bennett is booked for an inept challenge on Rashford, who’d skinned him on the break.
65 min United have responded reasonably well to the equaliser, and are having a lot of the ball again. But they look much less composed than they did in the first half, both with and without the ball.
63 min Rashford tries to score from a ludicrous angle and distance on the left, and cracks it miles wide of the near post. “What the bloody blazes was that?” chant the Wolves fans.
62 min The primal roar when Neves scored was a thing of beauty.
61 min McTominay has a crack from 25 yards; Moutinho blocks.
59 min Traore dances into the area from the right before dragging a left-footed shot well wide. Wolves are all over United, who must be starting to wonder whether it’s happening again.
The goal is given! And it’s worth repeating that it was a storming goal.
Moutinho may have been offside when the corner was played back to him, after which he drilled it to Neves on the edge of the area.
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VAR check for offside Oh lord.
That was a stunning goal. Moutinho took a short corner on the right and hammered the ball back towards Neves, in space on the edge of the area. As the United players charged out, Neves got the ball out of his feet in a hurry and smacked a gorgeous, booming curler that brushed the fingertip of the stretching de Gea and flew in off the underside of the bar. It hit the back of the net and then bounced back up onto the underside of the bar on its way out. Great goal.
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GOAL! Wolves 1-1 Man Utd (Neves 55)
What a goal from Ruben Neves!
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54 min: Jimenez hits the post! It was a brilliant effort, a flicked header at the near post from Moutinho’s outswinging free-kick. It clattered of the inside of the post, hit De Gea and bounced to safety.
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54 min Traore is fouled just outside the area by Maguire, who isn’t impressed with the decision.
52 min After a patient passing move from United, Wan-Bissaka shapes to shoot and then plays a disguised through pass that just evades Lingard in the area. Wan-Bissaka has been the best player on the pitch so far, for mine.
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51 min Neves is booked for a foul on James.
50 min Wolves have made a much faster start to the second half - but they almost go 2-0 down when Lingard completely miskicks an inviting cross from Wan-Bissaka. It was a slightly awkward ball, which bounced in front of him, and he shanked it completely.
47 min James slips and plants his studs into Jota’s ankle. He’s on a yellow card, so he needs to be careful. I think that was an accident; if not, he’s lucky to be on the pitch.
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46 min Peep peep! The second half is underway. Wolves have made a change, with Traore replacing Doherty.
Half-time reading
Half time: Wolves 0-1 Manchester United
Peep peep! Manchester United deservedly lead through Anthony Martial’s excellent goal in the 27th minute. That was their only real chance, but they dominated possession throughout and played with confidence and authority. Wolves can play better, though, and probably will in the second half.
45+1 min Martial almost gets a second on the stroke of half-time. He scooted onto a half-arsed backpass from Bennett, pushed the ball away from the last man Boly with his right foot - but his left foot landed on the ball and sent it spinning behind him.
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44 min Wan-Bissaka is having a cracking game at right-back. He looks so hard to beat one against one.
42 min James’ clipped cross is chested down near the penalty spot by Martial, but he can’t find any room for a shot at goal.
41 min Shaw shows surprising pace to scoot past Doherty and win a corner. Rashford’s inswinger is headed back across goal by Maguire and eventually cleared.
39 min Pogba is penalised for a foul on Moutinho. There’s a VAR check to see whether Pogba deserves to be sent off. He doesn’t; it was just a tangle of legs.
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37 min Wolves had a little flurry of possession after the goal but United have resumed control for the last five minutes.
36 min Rashford sweeps a sharp pass into Martial on the edge of the D. He turns smartly and wriggles away from Boly but not the last man Coady.
35 min Pogba plays a lovely pass down the right to James, whose first-time cross is intercepted by the stretching Coady. James is being booed, with feeling, every time he gets the ball. He’s looked slightly nervous in possession, but his work rate without the ball has been impressive.
33 min We’ve seen almost nothing of Ruben Neves so far.
32 min Moutinho’s corner rebounds to Jimenez, whose stinging snapshot is blocked by Pogba.
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31 min Human nature being what it is, Wolves have had much more of the ball since the goal. Jota wins a corner off Wan-Bissaka.
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After 27 minutes of probing, United finally got behind Wolves for the first time. Lingard pushed the ball infield from the left to Rashford, who slid a nice short pass down the side of the defence into the path of Martial. He ran away from Boly and crashed a rising shot past Patricio with his left foot.
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GOAL! Wolves 0-1 Manchester United (Martial 27)
Anthony Martial gives Manchester United the lead with a thumping finish.
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25 min Lindelof shanks the ball towards his own goal, but redeems his error with a header back to De Gea. It’s an interesting game, but not yet an exciting one.
24 min Dan James has been booked for diving. That looked a good decision from Jon Moss, although replays suggest he might have been caught. It’s hard to be sure. What we do know is that he’s going to be booed for the rest of the game.
23 min “Given both teams’ strengths on the counter,” says Oliver Atkinson, “this feels like the sort of game where Wolves are having the better of it on account of United having all of the ball.”
Yes, Wolves have looked the slightly more dangerous team, even though they’ve only had about a quarter of the possession.
19 min Here’s Sean Clayton on the subject of bogey teams. “It feels like a long time ago but Sheffield Wednesday absolutely owned Man United for several seasons in the late 80s and early 90s. In retrospect, that late brace of injury time goals by Steve Bruce was the beginning of a long decline for the mighty Owls...”
Nigel bloody Jemson.
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18 min Pogba sprays a long crossfield pass to Rashford on the left. He twists Bennett one way and then the other before curling a wicked inswinging cross that just evades Martial in the six-yard box.
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18 min Wan-Bissaka makes a good tackle to stop Jota’s run down the left. Jimenez and Jota look really sharp on the counter-attack.
16 min Pogba fouls Jota 40 yards from goalk. Moutinho’s inswinging free-kick is headed away by Harry Magnet.
14 min United are struggling to get behind the Wolves defence, which is so well organised. There’s so much pace in this United team, but there isn’t. Pogba excepted, a huge amount of guile.
12 min Under normal circumstances you’d say this has been an excellent start for United, who have dominated possession (72 per cent) and played with breezy purpose. But given their recent history with Wolves, they might wonder whether they are walking into a trap.
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10 min “Obviously, I’m no United fan,” says Matt Dony. “ But I am a very big admirer of Dan James. He is terrifyingly fast, with a decent end product, and just seems like such a damn nice young man. I’m looking forward to watching him tear up trees for Wales, and hoping he gets the chance to develop at United. And, you would need a heart of stone not to smile at the sheer, unadulterated, childlike joy in his goal celebration last week. Go on, son.”
10 min Shaw’s corner is headed clear at the far post.
9 min Now it’s United’s turn to counter, from that Wolves corner, and James wins a corner at the other end.
9 min The corner is slabheaded away by Maguire.
8 min James loses the ball on the right - I thought he was fouled, but Jon Moss didn’t - and Wolves spring forward to win a corner at the other end.
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5 min United have had almost all of the ball in the first five minutes, though Wolves won’t really mind that. They are lethal on the break.
3 min “I like Lingard, he’s a decent player who always puts in a shift,” says Sandile Xaso, “but how much better would this team look with a class act like James Maddison in it? It was startling to see him not only be the best player on the pitch at Stamford Bridge yesterday, but by such a large margin.”
Yes, I really like Maddison, who looks a class act. I suspect he will have a lot of suitors next summer.
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2 min A couple of lively early challenges, first from McTominay and then Coady. Both were fair tackles, but they were also meaningful.
1 min Peep peep! Wolves, in the old gold, kick off from right to left. United are in red.
We’re having a few technical issues, but they’ll hopefully be sorted before kick-off. The players have just emerged to the usual cracking atmosphere.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer speaks
“[Dan James] has made an impact from day one. We’ll chop and change at times this season. Andreas played very well last week but we think Dan is the right choice for tonight. He gives us the X-factor of his pace, and he’s incredibly hard working off the ball.
“This is not a happy hunting ground for me – three games here [as a player and manager], three defeats. I was thinking of staying at home tonight! We know Wolverhampton are a tough side; they maybe deserved more than finishing seventh last season. We know they don’t concede many goals and we’ll have to be clinical when we get chances.”
“Do you know if the average age of this United team remains the youngest in this week’s round of PL fixtures?” says Matt Richman. “I have to say I’m impressed with the repeated faith in the team’s youth.”
It is, yeah. It’s also slightly younger than the Chelsea team, with James (21) replacing Pereira (23).
Nuno Espirito Santo speaks
“It’s a big game, a big challenge for us. We did a lot of things well against them last season. I expect a tough game – they are confident, so we have to take care of everything and look for our chance. The answer of the players has been very good [to the extra workload]. The idea is to be united and embrace everything in front of us.”
Some pre-match reading
Team news
Daniel James makes his full debut for United, replacing Andreas Pereira. Wolves are unchanged from their last Premier League game, the 0-0 draw at Leicester eight days ago.
Wolves (3-5-2) Patricio; Bennett, Coady, Boly; Doherty, Dendoncker, Neves, Moutinho, Jonny; Jimenez, Jota.
Substitutes: Ruddy, Vinagre, Gibbs-White, Saiss, Neto, Cutrone, Traore.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1) De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Lindelof, Maguire, Shaw; McTominay, Pogba; James, Lingard, Rashford; Martial.
Substitutes: Romero, Young, Tuanzebe, Mata, Pereira, Matic, Greenwood.
Referee Jon Moss.
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Preamble
Hello. Manchester United have had some unlikely bogey teams down the years. West Brom in the late 1970s; Norwich in the late 1980s; Southampton in the mid 1990s; Middlesbrough in the early 2000s; just about everyone since 2013. Their newest nemesis is Wolves, who tonight are aiming to beat United at Molineux for the third time in less than six months.
Their two 2-1 wins last season – one in the FA Cup, one in the league – sent United into a tailspin after that amazing start under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. They showed the first signs of recovery with a stirring 4-0 win over Chelsea last weekend, but this is a different - and arguably tougher - test.
In those two games last season, Wolves dictated the match by not dictating it – both teams prefer to play on the counter-attack, and Wolves had less of the ball each time. They rode their luck a little in the league, but the FA Cup performance was a masterclass in playing like the away side at home.
They will use exactly the same tactics tonight. It’s up to United to do something about it.
Kick off is at 8pm.
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