Manchester United edge past Wolves with 1-0 victory at Old Trafford
Raphael Varane scored the winner to give a poor Manchester United side an opening victory against an impressive Wolves side.
Manchester United started with Antony and Alejandro Garnacho either side of Marcus Rashford but were unable to create any clear chances in the first half.
It was the away side who had the best chances in the first half with Pablo Sarabia and Matheus Cunha dragging shots just wide of Andre Onana’s goal.
At the start of the second half, Wolves went close again when Cunha hit the outside of the point from point blank range after the ball fell to him from another good Wolves attack.
The home side continued to look lethargic and were still unable to create despite bringing on Jadon Sancho and Christian Eriksen.
United finally were able to add the first bit of quality in the final third with 15 minutes to go. Bruno Fernandes’s chipped through ball for Aaron Wan-Bissaka was crossed into the path of Raphael Varane who nodded home from 6 yards out to give the home side the 1-0 lead.
Despite this relatively undeserved goal, Wolves continued to push. The West Midlands club were denied a late penalty when Andre Onana collided with Sasa Kalajdzic. The United debutant crashed into the Wolves player after missing the ball from a cross.
After a brief VAR review, a penalty was not given much to the dismay of Wolves manager Gary O’Neil who was booked for his protests on the touchline.
United came away with the 3 points controversially despite a very poor display. Wolves will take great confidence in there performance after a troublesome summer so far.
Erik Ten Hag’s comments on Man Utd’s performance
The United manager was not too pleased with the performance of his attackers after registering only 3 shots on target to Wolves 6.
“I think we could have scored five or six turnovers and there were overloads,” Ten Hag said, “but I think the frontline was not in the best form today and we could have made more out of it from the overload situations.
“Last week, we scored some incredible goals. This week, it’s the form of the day and we didn’t, but it will come.
“We have to move with the ball and be compact. Once we are compact, we have to be aggressive and fight in the duels. Today, we lost some fights and the counter-attacks you allow.
Gary O’Neil was not happy with penalty decision
“Jon Moss said it was a blatant penalty and should have been given – fair play to him, he apologised,” said O’Neil.
“I have spent a lot of time with him today to understand the new guidelines, trying not to get myself booked in the first game, which I have failed in.
“But fair play to Jon for coming out and saying it was a clear and obvious error – he couldn’t believe the on-field referee didn’t give it and can’t believe VAR didn’t intervene.
“It probably made me feel worse, actually, because you know you are right. I feel worse about leaving with nothing. Live, I was told they didn’t think it was a clear and obvious error.”
