Ben Fisher has filed his match report, so I can slip away to see what’s in the fridge. A match that began as a one-sided affair, and remained 0-2 after 70 minutes, suddenly turned into a rip-roaring cliffhanger. Thanks for your company and correspondence, and sorry not to have got through it all. The game was too damn good.
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The player of the match is Hojlund. He did assist the first goal and score the second, but still … Kobbie was robbed!
Hojlund on Mainoo: “I thought I was young myself, and now he’s stepped up!” Mainoo is 18, and he already plays like a veteran. Hojlund is 20, and he already sounds like a pundit.
Rasmus Hojlund is talking now. He’s impressive, speaking better English than some home-grown players. Asked how he’s found life in the Premier League, he says it’s different from the Italian league. “You need to be just a split-second faster here.” Physically or mentally? “All aspects, I think. Be ready, orientate yourself before you get the ball.”
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A week ago, Man United hadn’t scored four in a game all season. Now they’ve done it twice in five days, and both times they came close to blowing it.
Man United move up to seventh, one point behind West Ham, who drew with Bournemouth tonight. United have 35 points from 22 games, with 11 wins (and nine losses). Wolves stay 11th, with 29 points from 22, after their first home defeat since September. The penalty that brought their first goal was a bit lucky, but then they had been aggrieved not to get one in the reverse fixture at Old Trafford. And their other two goals were very good, as were United’s opener and winner – both scored by Academy alumni, Rashford and Mainoo.
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Kobbie Mainoo is giving an interview, possibly his first. “It’s a dream come true,” he says. “Such a tough place to come.”
“Big talent,” says Bruno Fernandes, about Mainoo. “I’ve seen him play for the Under-18s… The talent was there. He will be the future.”
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That was so much fun. Too much fun, if you were trying to write about it, but great entertainment for a packed house and the TV audience. United were excellent in the first half, sloppy in the second. Wolves were the other way round. It probably should have been a draw, but United did have two goals disallowed, and they’ve made off with all three points.
FULL TIME! Wolves 3-4 Man United
United complete a big win. It was much like Newport: go 1-0 up, throw it away… then do just enough. The cameras home in on Kobbie Mainoo, whose Fergie Time winner was an absolute gem.
90+10 min The minutes are into three figures. A Wolves attack is snuffed out by Antony, his first useful contribution.
90+9 min Another sniff for United! McTominay does well in midfield and slips in Fernandes, but his pass is too far ahead of the nearest team-mate. A similar blunder at the other end as Wolves come again. Shaw gets a yellow for kicking the ball away.
This is a gorgeous goal. Mainoo went on a slalom, dancing past two defenders, and then curled the ball into the far corner. It’s his second senior goal, four days after his first.
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GOAL!! Wolves 3-4 Man United (Mainoo 90+7)
Take that!
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Wolves raced away on the break. Neto was in space on the right, and his finish with his left foot was lovely and composed. Wolves are good at comebacks, and United do tend to allow them.
GOAL!!! Wolves 3-3 Man United (Neto 90+5)
Would you believe it!
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90+3 min Shaw does well in defence, feeding Fernandes, who sends Antony away down the left. Shaw busts a gut on the overlap, but Antony doesn’t see him and opts to shoot, lamely. Where’s Rashford when you need him?
90+2 min Ten Hag sent on Maguire and Forson a few minutes ago, for Martinez and Hojlund. Now he’s sending on another senior defender, Jonny Evans, for Garnacho, who’s been about 80pc excellent.
90+1 min Fernandes’s shot is blocked.
90 min Yes, it’s nine minutes to go. Time for several more goals.
89 min United race away on the counter with Garnacho holding the ball well and then squaring for Antony. He’s taken out by Cunha, who sees yellow and gives away a free kick in a tasty area.
88 min Wolves surge forward again and Lemina comes close at the near post, but the flag was up anyway. There could be nine minutes added on, not sure why.
86 min Resilient as ever, Wolves exerted some pressure and won a corner. As the ball flew around the six-yard box, Kilman chested it down nicely and hit a left-foot shot that Onana seemed to see a bit late. Jet lag, perhaps.
GOAL! Wolves 2-3 Man United (Kilman 85)
Game on again!
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82 min Ten Hag is so pleased with Garnacho on the right that Antony is playing on the left, and neither winger is on his usual side. As yet, it hasn’t made Antony’s decision-making any better.
79 min With McTominay replacing Casemiro, Mainoo is now the only holding midfielder. And he’s strolling around like a general. Was Pirlo this good at 18?
79 min Another set piece, another Fernandes delivery – but this one is a shot, from 30 yards, over the bar.
78 min It’s Wolves’ turn to respond, and they do, piling into the box. The attack ends up with a goal kick, unsubtly delayed by Onana, who picks up a cheap yellow card.
76 min So both teams have had a goal from a man who has just come on. United seldom score from a corner … but Fernandes’ delivery has been good tonight and his outswinger gives McTominay the chance to head the ball down and into the corner of the net. It’s his first goal for a while after a purple patch in the autumn.
GOAL! Wolves 1-3 United (McTominay 75)
Anything Sarabia can do, McTominay can do just as well!
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72 min That was rough justice. Wolves had been the better team for 20 minutes, and Erik ten Hag, who can be sluggish with this subs, didn’t do anything about it. He’s reacting now, replacing Casemiro with McTominay, and, more unexpectedly, sending Antony on for Rashford.
The pen went straight down the middle. The keeper went to his left.
GOAL! Wolves 1-2 Man United (Sarabia 71 pen)
Sarabia scores!
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Casemiro is waving his finger. “Not much there,” says a commentator. Paul Tierney is studying the replays. Wolves did miss out on a penalty at Old Trafford in August … And this one stands!
Penalty to Wolves!
Neto goes down as Casemiro sidles into him ... or does he? The VAR will decide.
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66 min United’s turn to attack as a sequence of fluent passes culminates in a rather optimistic shot from Diogo Dalot.
“Hojlund’s league goals,” says Alan Steenstrup, with an air of authority. “It’s actually 3 in 3, since he missed the game against Forest due to illness.” Thanks!
63 min Cunha skips past a few defenders and the ball eventually reaches Tommy Doyle, who shoots over the bar. Gary O’Neil sent on a sub a few minutes ago – Ait- Nouri for Doherty at left wing-back – and now he makes another change, replacing Bellegarde with Sarabia.
62 min Sa comes out to clear a through ball and falls over, but Hojlund can’t quite keep his own footing.
60 min As the hour glass empties, a caption tells us that Wolves have shaded the possession 53-47 in this half. It feels more like 63-37.
59 min Wolves get forward again. This has been their best spell of the game, yet they still look loose at the back.
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57 min Chance for Wolves! After taking a free kick, they string together some touches in the box and Dawson comes almost as close as Kilman did a few minutes ago, but the ball hits Onana on the left cheek and spins away. No loss of face.
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55 min Chance for Hojlund! Garnacho does well on the right, Hojlund is in the middle and in the mood, but Sa makes a fine save.
54 min Wolves set off on a fast break. If Casemiro was in the way, he'd be sent off, but luckily for United it’s Kobbie Mainoo, who uses his wise young head, pulls off a tidy tackle, and even wins a free kick.
53 min West Ham have drawn 1-1 at home to Bournemouth, so as things stand, United are only a point behind them. But if any team can blow a 2-0 lead, it’s United: they’ve done it three times this season.
51 min Wolves are still wide-open at the back. Fernandes, in space, can’t quite find Rashford on the left. Eventually Hojlund commits a foul to give Wolves some breathing space.
50 min Rashford, on the right for a moment, races into the box, so fast that he leaves the ball behind.
50 min The header was by Kilman, who deserved a goal for it.
Cleared off the line!
49 min The free kick from Neto brings a fine header from someone, beating Onana – only for Martinez to redeem himself with a terrific lunge off the line.
48 min As in the first half, United get an early booking – Martinez, going in too hard with a tackle.
47 min Chance! Fernandes sets Garnacho free, then gets the cutback, he has to score – but he takes two touches and gives Dawson time to get a block in.
46 min Wolves kick off and go back, then forward, then out of play down the left.
The view from a full-time United correspondent.
The scoreline doesn't do #mufc justice. Two goals, two great chances at 2-0 and two disallowed goals. Their best half of the season with their best team this season.
— Samuel Luckhurst (@samuelluckhurst) February 1, 2024
“United miss their first-choice defence for most of the first half of the season.” says David Wall, “and unsurprisingly they’re unimaginative going forward as they’re afraid of losing the ball, and they ship goals when they do lose it. Also unsurprisingly, they get their first-choice defence back together and they look much more solid and secure, and can attack with more confidence and adventure. For all the excuses offered for Newcastle and Spurs due to their injuries, United have been hit just as hard.
“Of course writing this risks a Wolves comeback and second-half collapse from United, but at the least they’ll still have put together a really excellent half of football for perhaps the first time this season.”
You wait ages for a league goal from Rasmus Hojlund, then three come in four games.
Rasmus Hojlund’s first half by numbers vs. Wolves:
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 1, 2024
100% pass accuracy
17 touches
3/4 ground duels won
2 key passes
1 shot on target
1 goal
1 assist
Superb CF play in the first half. 🇩🇰 pic.twitter.com/UQU1sKwq8P
HALF-TIME! Wolves 0-2 Man United
Rashford is back. Hojlund has arrived. And United are actually playing well. But Wolves have had their moments without finding the finishing touch. They’re good at getting back into games, and they will surely be better at defending after they’ve had a dressing-down.
45+4 min Fernandes is clear down the left, Garnacho is free in the middle, but the cross is a shocker. Payback time for the poor decision Garnacho made at Newport when the roles were reversed.
Another goal disallowed!
Casemiro heads Fernandes’ free kick into the corner, like a bullet, but he does look offside.
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45+2 min We’re having three minutes of added time. Hojlund thinks he’s through again, only to be blocked by Dawson, who goes into the book.
“This may not be the most insightful of questions,” says Matt Turner, “but are Wolves, like, trying? How many lazy, aimless kicks downfield have they dished out? They’re making United look... good.” Ha. The players are always trying, aren’t they?
Goal disallowed! For United
45 min Hojlund has the ball in the net again after breaking through the middle and drilling a left-foot shot past Jose Sa, but the flag goes up straight away and the VAR agrees with the linesman.
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42 min As Wolves get into the box again, to no avail, Gary O’Neil watches them, impassive bar a pair of wide eyes. He may be preparing a rocket for his defenders.
“If United don’t win THIS one, ie, let the lead go,” says Eric Anderson, “Erik won’t be conducting the orchestra at Old Trafford any more, he’ll be conducting in Amsterdam ... ON THE TRAMS!”
39 min United motor up the other end, where Garnacho does well to get in from the right but then gives the ball away rather limply. On shots, it’s 8-4 to United, but for shots on target it’s 2-2. The cameras find Sir Alex Ferguson, sitting next to his old friend and colleague David Gill.
38 min Pinball in the United box. No wizards.
35 min Wolves are playing perfectly decently in United’s half, while having no idea in their own. Meanwhile, in tonight’s other game, West Ham have drawn level with Bournemouth thanks to a penalty from James Ward-Prowse.
31 min Yet another chance! This time it’s Varane, planting a hook just over the bar. What has happened to Wolves?
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31 min Chance! Hojlund goes close as he charges down Sa. Chance again! Fernandes runs onto a cutback from Hojlund and passes the ball wide when it would almost have been easier to score.
29 min United’s turn to have some possession, but nothing comes of it.
The 3,000 MUFC fans are joyously singing ‘Rashford’s on the piss.’
— Andy Mitten (@AndyMitten) February 1, 2024
28 min Now Wolves have a free kick. It’s Doyle, it’s well struck with a bit of curl on it, but the curl takes it into the arms of Onana.
26 min Chance! Casemiro runs onto Fernandes’s whipped free kick, gets a free header, but can’t quite slip it inside the post.
“I remember walking to Molineux as a United fan in the 80s,” says Paul Howarth. “Saturday afternoon, singing ‘we’ll be top, we’ll be top, we’ll be top by 5-o’clock. Anyway we lost, so we weren’t.”
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Garnacho did well to find Rashford, winger to winger. He had two defenders on him but knew he could wait a moment for Shaw to race past him on the overlap. This time the cross was low and hard, into a melee in which Hojlund got the final touch. Ten Hag was right: this forward line is finally clicking.
GOAL! Wolves 0-2 Man United (Hojlund 22)
Another one! Made by Shaw, fed by Rashford.
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19 min Wolves come again, with Tommy Doyle showing his class in midfield, warming the hearts of City fans of a certain age.
19 min Wolves are warming to the task, pushing United back. When Casemiro clears and sets Garnacho off on the counter, his cross ends up in Row Z.
18 min Wolves win a corner, but the header that comes in is a loopy one from deep that Onana has no trouble collecting.
17 min One reason Rashford may be happier tonight is that he has Shaw playing behind him, for once. Every winder needs a wingman. Shaw now races past on the overlap, Rashford finds him, and the cross is just a bit overhit. United have not only scored: they’ve even managed not to concede straight afterwards.
15 min Rashford has a chat with Hojlund. I suspect Ten Hag has reminded him that he’s supposed to be one of the leadership group.
14 min Wolves play through the United press and Cunha has a glimmer of an opening, charging in from the left, but some attention from Dalit and a friendly deflection send the ball into the gloves of Onana.
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Out of form, you say?
Marcus Rashford’s last 5 games:
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) February 1, 2024
🅰️ vs. Aston Villa
⚽ vs. Nottingham Forest
🅰️ vs. Wigan
⚽ vs. Spurs
⚽ vs. Wolves
Superb finish. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/vg453Y9fFk
11 min United string together some good crisp passes. Mainoo to Fernandes to Rashford, and eventually Casemiro has a shot from distance that goes just wide.
9 min It’s not just Rashford and Hojlund who have done well here – it’s also Erik ten Hag, who stressed before the game that their relationship was beginning to click. They combine again now with a nice touch from Rashford, but Wolves win the ball back and make their first foray into the area, where Neto can’t quite stop the ball dribbling out for a goal kick.
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6 min Wolves react by having some possession for the first time, mostly in their own half.
Rashford had come into the middle, sniffing a chance. Another neat lay-off from Hojlund, and Rashford just had to pass the ball into the corner, which he did very coolly. His celebration was on the cool side too, but he now has three goals in his last three league games.
GOAL!! Wolves 0-1 Man United (Rashford 5)
He’s done it already!
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3 min Yellow card! Only a rookie could collect one this early in the game, right? Wrong – it’s Casemiro. He’s a wonderful footballer in many ways, but he never seems to have read the rules.
2 min Casemiro goes long down the middle to Hojlund, who chests the ball nicely for Fernandes. His pass, as so often, is a touch over-ambitious and again Garnacho can’t latch onto it.
2 min Bruno Fernandes kicks off and United knock it around at the back before a long ball just eludes Garnacho down the right. They’re in all white, Wolves in their familiar gold and black.
The players are out there and the atmosphere is rocking, with about 28,000 voices joining the late great Jeff Beck on the chorus of Hi Ho Silver Lining.
“Neto,” says the subject line of tonight’s first email. “Blooming heck, Tim,” Duncan Edwards continues. “Surely United will beat that Wolves team, they’ve only got one danger man whereas we’ve got, well I’m not sure now many we’ve got but it must be more than one.” Opta’s algorithm is on your side, Duncan, giving United a 39pc chance of a win to Wolves’ 30. My thinking was that Wolves are in great form at Molineux, where they don’t concede many goals – only seven in the last eight home league games. Yes, United have danger men, but they’ve been less than the sum of their parts for most of the time since they last met Wolves, back in August.
Hmmm.
Choice of music here at Molineux poking fun at Rashford - a cover version of Tequila of Terrorvision followed by Tequila by The Champs #mufc
— Chris Wheeler (@ChrisWheelerDM) February 1, 2024
Erik ten Hag is talking to TNT. But not very effusively on the subject of Rashford, which inevitably comes up first. “He’s taken responsibility,” he says, “So case closed, we move on.” Does Rashford feel he has something to prove? “Like I said, case closed, we move on.”
Asked if this is the closest he has come this season to fielding his strongest team, he says “Yeah, I think so, could be. We know some [of them] have to catch up with game rhythm, but we have some good players back – Casemiro, Luke Shaw, Martinez.” He calls Wolves “a tough opponent… but we beat them at the beginning of the season, so we have confidence.”
Wolves are unchanged after seeing off their neighbours West Brom in the FA Cup. And their bench has a healthier look to it, with Joao Gomes back from his suspension and Pablo Sarabia fit enough to play some part in the game.
United’s bench is a jigsaw with a couple of glaring holes: there’s no full-back or centre-forward. At the back, Willy Kambwala may be asked to fill in on the flanks. At the front, Erik ten Hag seems not to be a fan of Charlie McNeill, the only fit striker apart from Rasmus Hojlund. Which makes it more likely that Rashford will play the full 90, as he’s the one man who could go in the middle if Hojlund is toiling.
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Teams in full
Wolves (probably 3-4-2-1) Sa; Kilman, Dawson, Toti; Semedo, M Lemina, Doyle, Doherty; Neto, Cunha; Bellegarde.
Subs: Bentley, H Bueno, S Bueno, Ait-Nouri, Gomes, Hodge, Chirewa, Sarabia, Fraser.
Man United (probably 4-1-2-3) Onana; Dalot, Varane, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro; Mainoo, Fernandes; Garnacho, Hojlund, Rashford.
Subs: Bayindir, Kambwala, Maguire, Evans, Eriksen, McTominay, Amad, Antony, Forson.
Referee Jarred Gillett.
Team newsflash: Rashford starts!
Marcus Rashford returns to the United XI at the expense of Antony. The only other change from the side that pulled off a wobbly win at Newport is André Onana, back in goal in place of his understudy, Altay Bayindir.
Preamble
Hello, good evening and welcome to a mid-table tussle tonight’s big game in the Premier League. With apologies to West Ham and Bournemouth, any game involving Man United is still a story, and all the more so when one of their stars has turned into the prodigal son.
Wolves needn’t worry too much: they’re sitting comfortably after taking 14 points from their last seven league games. United may have forgotten what comfort even feels like. They’ve lost so often this season – 14 times in all comps – that every match is now an embarrassment waiting to happen.
On form, this looks very much like a home win. Wolves have won five of their last eight league games at Molineux and drawn the other three. During that run they’ve had three visitors from the so-called Big Six – Man City, Spurs and Chelsea – and sent them all away with nul points.
United’s away form, meanwhile, has gone from not bad to worse, with three defeats in the last four in the league. The other game was the only pleasant surprise they’ve given their travelling fans all season, when they somehow scraped a point at Anfield.
If Gary O’Neil’s intelligent tactics do bag a win tonight, Wolves will burst into the top half of the table – and they’ll go above United, whose goal difference always seems to be on their rivals’ side. If Luke Shaw and Erik ten Hag’s other returnees can deliver a win, United will jump from ninth to seventh, nipping past Newcastle and Brighton. They can achieve the same effect with a draw, but it won’t lift them out of the doldrums.
Will Marcus Rashford play? And if he does, will he maintain his little-noticed return to form, or go back to looking lost? Last time he was disciplined by Ten Hag, 13 months ago, United’s next game was at … Molineux. Demoted to the bench, Rashford came on at half-time and scored the only goal of the game. His team-mates – and his 17m followers on Instagram – may feel he owes them a repeat.
The kick-off is at 8.15pm, for reasons best known to TNT Sports. I’ll be back soon with the teams.
