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On Wednesday, Manchester United prepared to welcome Wolverhampton Wanderers to Old Trafford with an aim to secure passage into the fourth round of the FA Cup. The two teams had met earlier in the month at Molineux, playing out out a dull 0-0 draw which had resulted in a replay at Old Trafford in an already congested month of January for the Red Devils.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was aware that a repeat of the disappointing performance could see United exit the tournament. The Norwegian was also out to improve his unimpressive record against the Wolves. However, the Red Devils arrived into the game on the back of a thumping 4-0 win over Norwich City on Saturday, which had added to their confidence. Solskjaer was also wary of the trip to Anfield on Sunday and made three changes to the team that beat Norwich City.
Manchester United Starting XI: Sergio Romero; Aaron Wan-Bissaka, Victor Lindelof, Harry Maguire, Brandon Williams; Fred, Nemanja Matic, Juan Mata; Mason Greenwood, Anthony Martial, Daniel James
Both teams had chances to score in the first half, but the game was evenly poised at the break, with the score 0-0. In the second half, United piled up the pressure on the away side and took the lead through Mata in the 67th minute. Wolves tried their best to get back into the game, but United held on to win the game 1-0.
Manchester United ensured that they continued to be involved in the FA Cup thanks to a resolute performance against Wolves. Here are three reasons why the Red Devils won the game
#3 Team Selection
Despite the fact that there was a game against Liverpool next weekend, Solskjaer opted against making too many changes to a winning team. After Mata’s weekend masterclass, he deserved a place in the team. The Norwegian ensured that the Spaniard had enough speed around him in the final third, opting for Greenwood, James and Martial to set up a frontline with just the right balance of youth and experience.
In the middle, Fred and Matic kept things simple but managed to be quite effective on the pitch for the home side. The back four was very close to the best that Solskjaer had at his disposal at the moment. When things looked tight in the second half, the Norwegian also brought on Marcus Rashford and Andreas Pereira to ensure that United had the tempo on their side. It is safe to say the Solskjaer got his team selection spot on and that helped the Red Devils win the game.
#2 Poor finishing from Wolves
Wolves had caused Solskjaer quite a few problems in the last few meetings and the Norwegian had every right to be worried on the night. The away side had quite a few chances to score in the game but lacked a bit of precision and composure in the final third.
Right from the start of the game, Wolves threatened on the break and found themselves on good positions in the final third. Adama Traore was a nuisance all night and created quite a few chances for his team throughout the game. However, Raul Jimenez and co. had a nightmare in front of goal and failed to cause too many problems for Romero.
The away side did have the ball in the back of the net in the 10th minute, but it was ruled out due to a handball in the build-up to the goal. Wolves also struck the post through Matt Doherty in the first half and had momentum in their stride at one point in time. Unfortunately, they were unable to build on that and that cost them the game.
#1 Individual brilliance
With the speed of Martial, James and Rashford and the technicality of Juan Mata on the pitch, it was expected that United would cause the Wolves defence quite a few problems in the final third. The home team did have a couple of chances to take the lead in the first half, but Wolves stayed strong at the back and refused to budge.
After the break, as the away side grew a little more adventurous, United found more space to run into in the opposition half. And in the 67th minute, a fast and fluid transition from back to front caught Wolves off guard. When Martial received the ball in the half-line, the visitors were already on the backfoot. The Frenchman had Wolves backpedaling and he was conscious enough to catch Mata’s brilliant run ahead of him. Martial played an inch-perfect through ball for the Spaniard to latch into and Mata timed his run to perfection to beat the offside trap.
The Spaniard arrived in the box with the Wolves goalkeeper rushing out of his line to close him down. Despite the pressure of two Wolves players on his shoulders, Mata kept his cool and lifted the ball over Ruddy to give United the lead.
