Manchester United finished 2022 with three points after a battling 1-0 win over Wolves at Molineux. Marcus Rashford was the difference for Erik ten Hag’s men, coming off the bench to score after an excellent pass from Bruno Fernandes.
On 76 minutes, our no.10 showed great strength to hold off a swarm of defenders before drilling the ball into the back of the net emphatically.
The goal gave the Reds three crucial points and moved them into the top four at the turn of the year. United dominated the early stages of the game, coming within six minutes of a dream start. Christian Eriksen’s whipped corner into the box found Casemiro, but his header was deflected just over.
During the first 15 minutes, the game really opened up, with both sides enjoying spells of possession at either end of the pitch, but it was the Reds who were given a clear-cut chance to score. Eriksen played in Alejandro Garnacho with some fantastic link-up play in the middle of the park, but he couldn’t quite get the ball ahead of Nelson Semedo.Sa stepped up for the home team once more after Antony’s deflected effort appeared to have caught him off guard, but the Portuguese keeper got across quickly to prevent it from going in.
Both teams produced some incredible defending around the half-hour mark. The first came from Aaron Wan-Bissaka, who made an instinctive block to deny Joao Moutinho a certain goal. Nathan Collins was on hand minutes later to deny Anthony Martial a clear goalscoring opportunity after his excellent challenge prevented the Frenchman from getting on the end of Bruno Fernandes’ sublime pass into the box.
Just before the break, Antony had a chance to put us ahead after latching onto the end of Tyrell Malacia’s cross, but his header was straight at Sa, who saved comfortably. On the stroke of halftime, the Brazilian winger was involved again, but the ball did not end up in the back of the net as both he and Martial took aim with headers on goal as Sa smothered the ball before the flag was raised for offside.
Ten Hag brought Rashford off the bench to replace Alejandro Garnacho on the left side at the start of the second half. However, Wolves substitute Adama Traore made a bigger impression right away. The winger played two enticing balls into the United box, but none of his teammates were able to capitalise.
After ten minutes, the Reds appeared to have found their rhythm, with some beautifully crafted moves to get us up the pitch, but clear-cut chances were few and far between. Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves forced David De Gea into an incredible save with a long-range free-kick that looked destined for the back of the net moments after Fernandes saw his free-kick fly over.De Gea, on the other hand, flew across his goal to brilliantly palm the effort away.
The Reds finally broke through 14 minutes from time against a tenacious Wolves defence, but it was well worth the wait. Rashford and Fernandes exchanged passes, and our no.10 powered into the box, showing great strength to hold off defenders before firing home. And minutes before the end, our super-sub thought he had doubled our lead. Wan-Bissaka played the ball into Rashford’s path, and after seeing his shot saved by Sa, it bounced in off Marcus, but a VAR check ruled it out for coming off his arm.
Marcus Rashford’s game by numbers vs. Wolves:
93% pass accuracy
45 minutes played
23 touches
2 shots on target
1 yellow card
1 dribble completed
1 goalA disciplined finish. 🌟 pic.twitter.com/LZiRXcJ81K
— Statman Dave (@StatmanDave) December 31, 2022
Raul Jiminez came agonisingly close to stealing a point for the home side at the death from a corner, but De Gea made a big save to deny the Wolves striker a certain goal in a frantic final five minutes of injury time.
United held out for another crucial victory to cap off a perfect 2022 for the Reds, who secured a third straight win since the restart and another clean sheet. Roll on 2023!
MATCH DETAILS
Wolves: Sa; Semedo (Jonny 65), Collins, Kilman, Bueno (Gomes 72); Moutinho (Ait-Nouri 72), Neves, Nunes; Hwang, Costa (A. Traore 45), Podence (Jiminez 81).
Unused subs: Traore, Sarkic, Guedes, Hodge.
Booked: Semedo
United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Varane, Shaw, Malacia; Casemiro, Eriksen (Fred 62); Antony (Elanga 90+5), Fernandes (Maguire (90+5), Garnacho (Rashford 46); Martial (Van de Beek 81).
Unused subs: Heaton, Lindelof, Williams, Mainoo.
Goal: Rashford 76.
Booked: Casemiro, Fred, Rashford.
