Manchester United suffered their fourth Premier League defeat in the space of five matches as Bruno Fernandes was sent off in a 2-0 defeat to a resurgent Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Fernandes received his marching orders early in the second half at a misty Molineux, where Matheus Cunha bent in directly from a corner just before the hour.

Cunha then teed up Hwang Hee-chan to make sure of the points deep in stoppage time.

Thursday’s result marks a winning home debut for new Wolves head coach Vitor Pereira, who got one over on his Portuguese compatriot Ruben Amorim.

With two wins from two under Pereira, Wolves moved – at least temporarily – into 17th, three places behind out-of-form United.

How the match unfolded

An early half-chance for Fernandes aside, Wolves had the better of the first half, and forced Andre Onana into the first meaningful save when he tipped over Jorgen Strand Larsen’s header.

Nelson Semedo went close with a deflected long-range effort before half-time, and Wolves received a huge boost less than two minutes into the second half when the full-back was on the end of a rash challenge from Fernandes. United’s captain picked up his second booking, with VAR upholding the referee’s call.

Semedo was in the thick of it again moments later as he crossed in for Larsen to head home, but Wolves’ celebrations were cut short by the offside flag – with the VAR confirming that decision.

Yet there was no such reprieve for United in the 58th minute, as Cunha curled an inswinging, right-footed corner over the bodies in a crowded box and into the far corner.

Strand Larsen had another goal ruled out for offside but the result was settled in the ninth minute of stoppage time. Cunha raced clear on the break and squared for substitute Hwang, who slammed in his first league goal of the season.

Lightning strikes twice

It is rare that any team concedes a goal directly from a corner. For a side to let in two such goals in the space of three matches is almost unheard of.

Yet that is what happened when Cunha swung his corner into the back of Onana’s net to put Wolves ahead, just a week after Son Heung-min had done the same for Tottenham Hotspur, in United’s defeat to Ange Postecoglou’s team in the EFL Cup.

His team’s vulnerability from set-pieces will be of real concern for Amorim, as will their reaction after the dismissal of their captain Fernandes.

Fernandes pled his innocence, but he left his right boot in on Semedo when he stretched to meet a loose touch on the edge of Wolves’ box, giving referee Tony Harrington little choice but to hand him a second yellow card.

Shorn of their playmaker, United surrendered territory to Wolves, and then lacked the cutting edge to respond after falling behind, with hopeful headers from Alejandro Garnacho and Harry Maguire the best they managed.

United might have been handed a lifeline prior to Wolves’ second goal, when the VAR checked for a possible foul in the hosts’ box, but no on-field review was required as the Red Devils’ dismal run of form rolled on, with daunting fixtures against Newcastle United and Liverpool coming up.

Pereira’s perfect start

Two wins and two clean sheets from his opening two Premier League matches is all that Pereira could have hoped for after taking charge at Molineux, where the doom and gloom that was present at the end of Gary O’Neil’s tenure has well and truly lifted.

Their win owed much to Cunha. Perhaps his opener could be described as a fluke, but the whip and precision the Brazilian applied to his corner echoed that of Son’s a week ago.

Cunha then capped off a superb individual display with that assist for Hwang, meaning he has now been involved in 11 goals in his last 10 league matches, and Pereira will know that ensuring the former Atletico Madrid attacker keeps up that kind of form, while ensuring Wolves stay tight at the back, could be the key to dragging his new team away from danger.

There is, however, the lingering issue of a potential ban for Cunha, who faces an FA charge after his actions in the wake of Wolves’ loss to Ipswich Town.

Pereira has, though, made a sensational start, and with out-of-sorts Spurs to come next, the new boss will no doubt fancy his chances of maintaining his 100 per cent record.