Manchester United suffered a huge blow in their hopes for a top four finish in the Premier League after losing 2-1 away to Wolves on Tuesday night.
After receiving two bookings within five minutes, Ashley Young was given his marching orders just before the hour mark as the visitors finished with 10 men.
United had initially taken the lead through Scott McTominay in the 13th minute but a mistake from Fred saw Raul Jimenez set up Diogo Jota for the equaliser 12 minutes later.
An own goal from Chris Smalling 13 minutes from time sealed United’s fate as they pressed forward for a winner of their own.
Here, we look at some United talking points from the encounter.
MISSED CHANCES
An accomplished finisher in his time, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer would’ve found it hard to watch his side squander a series of glorious opportunities at Molineux. Having started the better of the two teams, United got the goal they deserved through McTominay but when presented with chances to drive home their advantage and kill off the game, they were found wanting.
Jesse Lingard missed the best of the opportunities. Completely unmarked eight yards from goal, he could only meet Romelu Lukaku’s cross with a tame header for Rui Patricio to parry away. Even before the opener, it was the Belgian who directed his own close-range header straight at the Wolves keeper. McTominay then forced another save from the home team’s custodian via a Lukaku cross early in the second half.
Wolves scored the equaliser against the run of play, profiting from an error. Then their second came from their first attempt in the second half. If you don’t take your chances at this level, you get punished.
Romelu Lukaku misses an early chance.
MIDFIELD DYNAMIC
In fairness to Solskjaer, he had the right idea here. The Red Devils were overrun at times during their FA Cup defeat against Wolves last month. He opted for a mobile midfield set-up of Fred, Paul Pogba and McTominay and for most of the first half it appeared to be paying off. United had good control in midfield and dominated proceedings.
However, he couldn’t account for two things. First, Fred’s mistake deep in his own half let the hosts back into a contest they were easily second best in until that point. Second, Pogba simply didn’t turn up – again. While Fred and McTominay played their parts, the France World Cup winner was shambolic and a passenger for the most part.
Paul Pogba completed just 69% of his passes against Wolves; his lowest passing accuracy in a Premier League game this season.
— Squawka Football (@Squawka) April 2, 2019
It wasn't his night tonight. 🤷♂️ pic.twitter.com/Tnq964o26C
DISASTER IN DEFENCE
Should United sign a world class centre-back this summer? Well, if they were on the fence about that at all, Smalling’s display should’ve turned that ‘maybe’ into an emphatic ‘YES’.
Some wondered if Smalling should’ve earned an England call-up during the recent international break but clearly Gareth Southgate knew better. The centre-back has always flattered to deceive, turning in some good performances before committing a few absolute calamities at the back. The hallmark of a good centre-back is consistency and that is sorely lacking in Smalling.
Unfortunately for Solskjaer, he wasn’t the only disappointment in the backline. Luke Shaw marred an otherwise decent outing with a booking which rules him out of the next two fixtures.
That proved particularly costly when Young was sent off, meaning United will struggle to field full-backs against West Ham next week.
