Deja vu as Wolves left to rue missed chances

Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 v Manchester United 1

With the benefit of twenty-four hours to view the game does one see it in a different light to that which dominates in the immediate aftermath. Not much. The only thing that has changed is that the sense of disappointment has lessened. But it still hurts.

It didn’t help that the manner of the defeat mirrored that of the previous game v Spurs a week ago as once again Wolves dominated large portions of the game only to fail to make that dominance pay. How Machado Trincoa in the fifth minute and Romain Saiss in the 68th had both their efforts cleared off the line will forever remain unknowns that no amount of reasoning will explain. The second miss seemed to knock the wind out of Wolves’ sails and there was a sense of inevitability that having failed to score, United would eventually punish them. This they did with just over ten minutes of the game remaining, Mason Greenwood cutting in from the right before firing an in-swinging cross come shot which went in off Sa’s outstretched arm.

Thereafter Wolves spent most of the time arguing with referee Mike Dean who had failed to punish a Paul Pogba challenge on Ruben Neves which had led to the goal. The frustration and ill-discipline only served to help the visitors who played out the remaining minutes relatively untroubled.

Is it a surprise that Wolves are pointless after their opening three games? Not really. What has surprised is the upbeat nature of the play and the number of chances created. Worryingly not one has been converted and their star goal scorer appears to have a chip missing in his hardware. Last year’s campaign was blighted by a lack of goals. Let’s hope that this one is not similarly afflicted.

Wolverhampton Wanderers: Sa 6, Semedo 6, Kilman 7, Coady 7 Gibbs White, Saiss 7, Marcal 6, Moutinho 7, Neves 7, Trincao 7 Sub Podence, Traore 7 Sub Silva, Jimenez 6

Manchester United: de Gea 6, Win Bissaka 7, Varane 6, Maguire 6, Shaw 6, Pogba 7, Fred 6, James 6 Sub Cavani, Bruno Fernandes 7, Sancho 5 Sub Martial, Greenwood 7 Sub Dalot

Attendance: Not stated.

Referee: Mike Dean 7

©Mark Brennand