WOLVES .... 1 MAN UTD...1
Penalty woe for Pogba
Paul Pogba missed a spot-kick as Man United were held 1-1 at Wolves last night
AT least a draw at Wolves represents some progress for Manchester United under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, even if they were left to rue Paul Pogba’s penalty miss.
Twice United were beaten here earlier this year — in league and FA Cup — as an end-of-season slide set in that raised doubts about both the new manager and the mindset of his players.
Gary Neville said before this game that Solskjaer would not be ‘conned’ by one good display — last week’s 4-0 win over Chelsea — and there is a suspicion his team can flatter to deceive.
This, then, was a far truer test of what United may achieve this season and the jury remains out. As Solskjaer said himself, it is easy to play well when you’re 3-0 up at Old Trafford.
At Molineux, though, it is not so simple. Come May, only one position and nine points separated the teams in the final Premier League standings and it is a gap Wolves are intent on closing.
Solskjaer (below) admits his youthful side do have a lot to learn. He said: ‘We dominated possession, we get the first goal and second half we know they’ll come out like a house on fire.
‘They probably got the goal they deserved. Then we took control again and could have won it.
‘First half was a mature display. Second half was a bit sloppy. We are improving. We are a young team who will learn.
‘We get a penalty that normally would get us a win, sometimes the keeper makes a good save.’
Ten minutes before Anthony Martial’s breakthrough goal he had done little to convince of his credentials as a central striker, the position he prefers.
It was nothing to do with technique but desire. Marcus Rashford had left Ryan Bennett so dizzy as he chopped one way and the other on the left that the defender simply fell over.
The forward took advantage to deliver an inviting cross but it was an offer Martial refused to take, dangling a leg inside the six-yard area instead of barging ball and man over the line.
Martial may wear No 9 but old-fashioned centre forward he is not. Remember that Solskjaer has urged his strikers to score more ‘scruffy’ goals this season.
But that is not Martial. Rather, he feeds off the sort of slide pass that Rashford provided for his 27th-minute opener.
Luke Shaw responded to the customary jibes about his weight to burst forward and start a move which saw Jesse Lingard feed Rashford. He slipped a pass in behind the static Wolves backline and Martial did the rest with a first-time sweep into the roof of the net.
He could have had a second on the stroke of half-time had he not stood on the ball when trying to skip clear from Conor Coady’s errant backpass.
Wolves offered little in that period. The closest they came to scoring was when United defender Victor Lindelof got himself in such a mess that a sliced clearance was followed by a headed return to David de Gea which, for a split-second, looked as if it could loop over the keeper. Blushes spared on that occasion, he and Harry Maguire had otherwise cruised through the first 45 minutes. It had, though, been a rough half for Dan James, making his first United start. The release of Leeds United’s Amazon Prime documentary last week revealed how close he came to signing for the club in January and, had it not been for Swansea’s hierarchy pulling the plug at the 11th hour, James may have been in action at Wigan on Saturday. The home defenders targeted his heels during the opening exchanges. James responded with what looked a pair of dives and he was lucky that the first went unpunished by referee Jon Moss, who was not to be fooled a second time and duly booked the £15million wideman.
James was operating in front of Aaron Wan-Bissaka and it was the defender who provided the cross from which Lingard should have doubled the lead early in the second half. His finish was wild and United paid the price as Wolves drew level on 55 minutes.
A corner was worked short and returned to taker Joao Moutinho, who picked out Ruben Neves 25 yards from goal. The midfielder took one touch to steady himself and another to dispatch the ball into the top corner via the underside of the crossbar.
Celebrations by the hosts were cut short when the goal was reviewed by VAR after a possible offside in the build-up — but the effort stood.
United had the chance to win it when Pogba was felled inside the box by Coady.
He assumed responsibility from Rashford, who converted from 12 yards last Sunday, but Rui Patricio dived to his right to repel the midfielder’s powerful blast.
Wolves goalscorer Neves said: ‘Man United started really well but we adjusted in the second half and took some risks.’
On the VAR delay to confirm the Wolves goal, manager Nuno Espirito Santos said: ‘It’s the emotion, you celebrate a goal and then you stay in silence. Don’t take that away from the people.’
WOLVES (3-4-1-2): Rui Patricio 8; Bennett 5, Coady 5, Boly 6; Doherty 5 (Traore 46), Dendoncker 6, Neves 8, Jonny 7; Joao Moutinho 7; Jimenez 8 (Cutrone 90), Jota 7 (Pedro Neto 86). Subs not used: Gibbs-White, Ruddy, Saiss, Ruben Vinagre. Booked: Neves, Bennett. MAN UTD (4-2-3-1): De Gea 6; Wan Bissaka 7, Lindelof 6, Maguire 7, Shaw 6; Pogba 7, McTominay 7; James 6 (Greenwood 89), Lingard 7 (Mata 81), Rashford 8 (Andreas Pereira 89), Martial 8. Subs not used: Young, Romero, Matic, Tuanzebe. Booked: James, Wan Bissaka. Referee: Jon Moss. Attendance: 31,314. Man of the match: Adama Traore.