Manchester United moved closer to a top-four finish as they produced one of the narrow football results of the weekend in the Premier League. With the victory, Erik ten Hag’s team is now just behind third-place Newcastle, who drew 2-2 at Leeds earlier on Saturday, on goal differential. Though United’s performance won’t be remembered for very long, the home team came through in a game that needed to be won, generating enough opportunities to keep Wolves in second place the whole time and preventing their opponents from getting a shot on goal. Anthony Martial scored the game’s first goal in the 32nd minute after receiving an assist from Antony. Alejandro Garnacho, a substitute, later returned from injury to secure the victory.
Back-to-back 1-0 losses to Brighton and West Ham had weakened United’s hold on a top-four spot, and they suffered a further setback before kickoff when it was revealed that Marcus Rashford was not healthy enough to join the team. Given that games between United and Wolves have often been tight contests with only one of their previous eight encounters in all competitions seeing more than one goal scored, Rashford appeared to be a significant loss. The first goal had even more significance because of this, but Martial made sure it went United’s way by putting the ball in the bottom corner after Antony pulled out Daniel Bentley, who was starting his Premier League career after being chosen ahead of him.
Max Kilman’s gaffe, which summed up the Wolves’ sloppy first half, occurred after he dashed from the defensive line to try to recover a ball he couldn’t reach. Within the opening 10 minutes, Antony came dangerously close to taking advantage of a defensive lapse. Just before Martial’s goal, the Brazilian winger headed Luke Shaw’s tempting cross from close range for an even better opportunity. In the second half, United continued to put Bentley to the test, but he was up to the challenge, making outstanding stops from Jadon Sancho and Antony to keep the Wolves in the game.
However, despite Raphael Varane making a rocky comeback after a month of injury absence, Julen Lopetegui’s team was unable to capitalize on its ‘keeper’s strong performance. Garnacho then put an end to Wolves’ ambitions when he burst through in the last seconds of the second half, beating Bentley as his shot bounced against the post and giving United a crucial three points that put them in a strong position to qualify for the Champions League in Ten Hag’s first season in charge.
This season, David de Gea’s high-profile mistakes have made headlines, but they shouldn’t be allowed to overshadow United’s overall strong defensive performance. Ten Hag has built a defense that has maintained 16 clean sheets in the Premier League in his debut season at Old Trafford, more than any other team in the top division. Despite no player committing more mistakes that resulted in goals in all competitions this season, De Gea added another shutout to his record against Wolves, and he is now online to win the Golden Glove award for the second time.
“We had to recover from two losses and individual errors made when we lacked motivation and played slowly. We had to win today, and we did,” Manchester United head coach Erik Ten Hag said. “We had unpleasant experiences the previous week when we weren’t paying attention, didn’t have the energy, made errors, and were losing games. United is not that. The greatest standard must be met. It’s all about getting the win. But I’ve heard that United never takes the simple route. We will follow that line because it is in our DNA, but we must cross it.”
“We lost, which makes me unhappy, but I have nothing to say about the players’ demeanor,” Wolves boss Julen Lopetegui said. “Playing against a club that is vying for a spot in the Champions League was not simple. We sought to play and compete with Manchester United even though we had already accomplished our main goal. After they scored, it became harder for us. We played excellent football for 20, 25, but perhaps we might have done better with a more threatening attitude in the opposition box.”
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