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Manchester United's top four hopes got impeded following their 2-1 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League at Molineux. The Red Devils started the game brilliantly and went ahead deservingly. The academy graduate Scott McTominay launched a shot from outside the box to provide the lead in the 13th minute.
Wolves kept on tapping on Manchester United's door and finally drew equal when Fred made a calamitous mistake in his own half. The Brazilian helped the opposition regain possession and Diogo Jota scored from an exquisite through ball to level the score.
Ashley Young's red card in the 57th minute proved to be the pivotal point of the game as the hosts took full advantage of that situation and took the lead, thanks to Chris Smalling who diverted the ball inside his own net. Nuno Santo's side had possession for the rest of the game and secured all three points.
On that note, we take a look at five talking points from Wolverhampton's 2-1 victory over Manchester United.
#5 Manchester United were wasteful in front of the goal
Manchester United wasted way too many chances to seal the game before Wolverhampton scored twice. Early on in the game, Diogo Dalot found Romelu Lukaku inside the six-yard box with an excellent cross, but the Belgian was not able to divert the ball to the game as it went straight at Rui Patricio.
Jesse Lingard yet another opportunity to lead the game but the English International failed to accept the invitation. Solskjaer's men kicked off the second half really well and had the fourth good chance of the game. Paul Pogba picked Scott McTominay inside the penalty box but the Scottish International's header was outstandingly saved by Rui Patricio.
#4 Wolverhampton get all three points despite not being at their best
Manchester United dominated early stages of the game which saw Wolves struggling to find their feet. The Red Devils' midfielder Fred's mistake which led to Diogo Jota's goal served as the perfect confidence booster for the hosts. For rest of the first half, they failed to trouble David De Gea but kept on passing the ball around to frustrate Solskjaer's men.
The visitors, once again, started the game on the upper hand in the second half until Ashley Young received a yellow card in the 57th minute. Even though they struggled for the final delivery, a welcome own goal from Chris Smalling in the 77th minute proved to be the decisive point in the game. Though Wolves scored twice in the game, both of them came from United's mistakes and they weren't at their best either.
#3 Scott McTominay impresses again
Scott McTominay might not be the first name on the team sheet, but his performances over the last few weeks have been under the radar. The Scottish International had more than a decent outing against Paris Saint Germain in the Champions League and replicated that sort of energetic performance to push for the third spot against Wolves.
The midfielder started the game in a positive manner by keeping the team tick and got the reward when he smashed the ball from the outside of the box to open his scoring account for the club and lead the game. He proved to be the link between the defense and attack with his long bursting runs by beating the opponent's midfield.
He nearly added his second goal of the game when Rui Patricio made an extraordinary save in the second half to deny the midfielder. McTominay will feel hard done by to end up on the losing side.
#2 Ashley Young's red card made it easier for Wolves
The Red Devils scored early but Wolves slowly started to dominate the game for the remainder of the first half. In the early stages of the second half, the visitors looked the most dangerous side.
However, their Skipper Ashley Young made a poor decision to commit a foul after being penalized five minutes before. The English International won the ball, but his high studs made sure that the defender had no complaints when he was sent off. Nuno Santo's side enjoyed the majority of the possession and scored in the 77th minute to lead the game for the first time.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer refused to criticize his player for receiving the second yellow and said that he gave them license to take risks. That move did not pan out well for the Red Devils on the night.
#1 Diogo Jota and Raul Jimenez had a good game
Wolverhampton deployed a 3-5-2 formation and crowded the midfield, and thereby never allowed space to United midfielders. The build-up for Wolves' first goal saw Fred making a huge mistake leading to a good finish from Diogo Jota. He kept his cool when it mattered the most and found the back of the net to make it 1-1. It was the seventh Premier League goal for Jota, who has been impressive for Wolves this season.
The Portuguese along with Raul Jimenez made a lot of running in the offensive areas of the pitch. The duo combined well to trouble United defense throughout the game. Even though Raul Jimenez failed to get his name on the score sheet, he linked up extraordinarily with the full-backs to cause havoc in the Red Devils' backline.
