Wolverhampton Wanderers earned a 2-0 victory over ten-man Manchester United to climb out of the relegation zone on Boxing Day as they consigned their embattled visitors to a third straight defeat.
A thick fog crept over Molineux during the first half, sinking closer to the pitch as each of the opening 45 minutes got under way. All the fans whose vision was obscured by the sour fog didn't miss much.
The two clubs clash around the bottom half of the Premier League table canceled each other out in a tepid first half. The sleepy Boxing Day match sprang to life late on when Bruno Fernandes picked up a second yellow card less than 90 seconds after the restart.
Wolves they almost immediately put the ball into Andre Onana's net, taking advantage of their numerical advantage only for Jorgen Strand Larsen to be denied by the offside flag. Matheus Cunha would not limit his celebrations in the 58th minute, legally swinging a corner kick straight off the flag into the top corner to break the deadlock.
The relegation-fighting hosts had a monopoly of the ball but tried to add to their lead. Molineux became a heavy bag of nerves as united mounted some late pressure before Hwang Hee-chan sealed all three points with a second goal in the 99th minute.
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Jose Sa |
8.8/10 |
|
CB: Matt Doherty |
8.2/10 |
|
CB: Santiago Bueno |
7.2/10 |
|
CB: All Gomes |
8.0/10 |
|
RBW: Nelson Semedo |
7.4/10 |
|
CM: Andra |
8.3/10 |
|
CM: João Gomes |
6.4/10 |
|
LWB: Rayan Ait-Nuri |
6.7/10 |
|
RF: Goncalo Guedes |
6.1/10 |
|
ST: Jorgen Stand Larsen |
6.3/10 |
|
LF: Matheus Cunha |
8.7/10 |
|
UNDER: Tommy Doyle (73' for Joao Gomes) |
6.4/10 |
|
UNDER: Hwang Hee-chan (74' for Guedes) |
7.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Rodrigo Gomes (87' for Ait-Nouri) |
N/A |
|
UNDER: Craig Dawson (90' for Semedo) |
N/A |
|
UNDER: Jean-Ricner Bellegarde (90' for Strand Larsen) |
N/A |
Unused entities:
|
Player |
ASSESSMENT |
|---|---|
|
GC: Andrew Onan |
5.3/10 |
|
CB: Lenny Yoro |
6.6/10 |
|
CB: Harry Maguire |
6.8/10 |
|
CB: Lisandro Martinez |
6.2/10 |
|
RBW: Noussair Mazraoui |
6.8/10 |
|
CM: Manuel Ugarte |
7.1/10 |
|
CM: Kobbie Mainoo |
6.3/10 |
|
LWB: Diogo Dalot |
7.3/10 |
|
RF: Amad Diallo |
6.1/10 |
|
ST: Rasmus Hojlund |
5.8/10 |
|
LF: Bruno Fernandes |
4.8/10 |
|
UNDER: Casemiro (63' for Ugarte) |
6.9/10 |
|
UNDER: Christian Eriksen (63' for Mainoo) |
6.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Antony (63' for Yoro) |
7.1/10 |
|
UNDER: Alejandro Garnacho (79' for Amad) |
5.3/10 |
|
UNDER: Joshua Zirkzee (79' for Hojlund) |
6.1/10 |
Subs not used: Altay Bayindir (GK), Jonny Evans, Matthijs de Ligt, Toby, Collyer