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.
TV Info - Broadcasters
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.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 |
West Ham
WHU
|
18 | -7 | 23 |
| 14 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
18 | -3 | 22 |
| 15 |
Everton
EVE
|
17 | -7 | 17 |
| 16 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
18 | -8 | 17 |
| 17 |
Wolves
WOL
|
18 | -11 | 15 |
| 18 |
Leicester
LEI
|
18 | -18 | 14 |
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.
Club reports
Wolves report | Man Utd report
What the managers said
Vitor Pereira: "I think we have good players with quality, just was missing a mental click to play and I think the commitment today and the supporters with us, it's something special. Usually my teams have good defensive organisation and of course I like to see my defensive line as a swiss clock with coordination. But the other parts, the men in attack and midfield must understand when we should press and when we should wait to be compact. These are the two moments we need to understand together."
Ruben Amorim: "It was in two parts. Different because we played 45 minutes with one man and worse off for us. They suffered with a lot of chances. Even with 10 men, we were near their goal during their half. Again, set-pieces change the game a little bit to make it harder. In the first half, I think we controlled it. Sometimes, we controlled but Wolves made some transitions but we were in control of the game. We had a little bit of a lack of aggression in the last third but we were controlling the game. Then, we have the second half to do something more to change some things and then, the first player sent off was really hard for us."
Next PL fixtures
Match facts
Ruben Amorim is the first Man Utd manager to lose as many as five of his first 10 matches in charge of the club in all competitions since Walter Crickmer in January 1932 (6/10).
Vitor Pereira is the first Wolves manager to win his first two top-flight league matches in charge since Sammy Chung in August 1977, while he’s the second Portuguese manager to win his first two matches in charge in the Premier League after Jose Mourinho.
No side has conceded more goals from corners in the Premier League this season than Man Utd (9 – level with Wolves). Indeed, it’s the second goal the Red Devils have conceded directly from a corner in the competition after Junior Stanislas for Bournemouth in December 2015.
Matheus Cunha has scored in each of his last three Premier League matches for Wolves, only Henri Camara in April 2004 has a longer run for the club in the competition’s history (5 matches).
