Wolverhampton Wanderers 1-1 Manchester United: Pogba misses penalty as United held

Manchester United wheezed to a 1-1 draw with Wolverhampton Wanderers in Monday’s Premier League fixture at Molineux. The Reds opened the scoring through Anthony Martial midway through the first half, only to cede their lead early in the second. Paul Pogba had the chance to win the game from the penalty spot, though was denied. In the end, it was a fast-paced game of relatively few chances.

The first half was a boring affair, but in quite a good way. United dominated possession, and yet still managed to curb Wolves’ threat on the counter-attack. If there was a downside, it was that Solskjær’s men only mustered one clear-cut chance. The upside was that they took it.

One of the great benefits of United’s current attacking lineup is that it is extremely mobile. The absence of a lumbering target man gives the front four relatively free licence to drift where they choose, and Jesse Lingard and Marcus Rashford combined well on the edge of the area before Martial was sent through and smashed home from close range just shy of the half-hour.

But Wolves have made a reputation as extremely stubborn opponents, and any hopes United had of a comfortable win were dashed within minutes of the restart. Raúl Jiménez had already rattled the post with a looping header by the time rising star Rúben Neves levelled the scores short of the hour, his stunning curling effort clipping the crossbar before rippling the back of the net. A VAR offside review threatened to extinguish his joy, but the goal was allowed to stand.

The hosts appeared firmly on top, with United again struggling to create. However, with just over 20 minutes remaining, United were gifted a glorious chance to retake the lead, after Conor Coady clumsily felled Pogba in the penalty area. The Frenchman stepped up himself, though opted for power over placement and ended up seeing his effort parried to safety by Rui Patricio.

Wolves continued to huff and puff, but couldn’t quite blow the house down. The fantastically named Leander Dendoncker gave United a scare with five minutes left, though he hooked a deep, difficult cross over de Gea’s crossbar from a tight angle, and the game ended all square.