Manchester United beat Wolverhampton Wanders 1-0 at Old Trafford in the final Premier League match of 2020. It was a close encounter with both sides having few chances throughout the match. United could have scored twice through Bruno Fernandes in the first half with the Portuguese midfielder having another chance in the second half, the first two were saved and blocked with the latter blocked. United tried to get the better of their opposition but left it late with Marcus Rashford, assisted by Fernandes scoring the only goal of the match in the third of five minutes of added time. United rose to second in the Premier League table.
United started the match in good stead, pushing forward to try and cause some early damage against Wolves. Marcus Rashford had a chance in the ninth minute of the match after Mason Greenwood played the ball to him but the England forward saw his long-range effort saved by Rui Patricio. A minute before, Pedro Neto had the chance to put Wolves ahead. Bruno Fernandes had a chance to find the back of the net in the 18th minute but it was blocked. Edinson Cavani had a chance with a header in the 26th minute, missing the target but Fernandes had the best chance in the 34th minute, seeing the effort saved by the keeper.
Solskjaer made his first substitution at the start of the second half of the match with Luke Shaw replacing Alex Telles, which may have been because of an injury to the Brazilian. Wolves started to emerge as the better side in the second half, doing well with the ball and getting it into attacking areas to try and pressure United a little. However, nothing at either end was happening, which was a disappointment. Anthony Martial became the second substitution in the match after he replaced Greenwood in the 64th minute with United needing to find a way to get the victory they desire to end 2020 on a high.
In the 69th minute of the match, United got into the Wolves area with the ball being played into Cavani, who was in the box but Wolves gave away a corner, averting the danger. United found the back of the net through Cavani but the goal was disallowed for offside but in the run up, Conor Coady handled the ball in the box but the offside was given and no penalty was awarded. United would have to go back to the drawing board to find a winner in this match. David De Gea made a good save in the 72nd minute after an effort by Romain Saiss, who was flagged for offside so it he had scored, it would not have counted.
In the 75th minute of the match, Paul Pogba struck a great effort on goal with Patricio getting the save to deny the home side from taking the lead late in the second half. Fernandes had a chance in the 85th minute of the match, sending a shot towards goal from outside the box but saw it blocked again. United seem to have been running out of ideas with Wolves parking the bus at times in the second half. Despite trying to, United could not seem to get a goal, However, almost at the death, Rashford put United ahead, assisted by Fernandes. Solskjaer made his third substation with Scott McTominay replacing Fernandes in the 90+5th minute.
[player_ratings id=”108896″]
Goals: Marcus Rashford 90+3′
Assists: Bruno Fernandes 90+3′
Manchester United: De Gea; Wan-Bissaka, Bailly, Maguire, Telles (Shaw 46′); Matic, Pogba; Greenwood (Martial 64′), Fernandes (McTominay 90+5′), Rashford; Cavani
Substitutes Not Used: Henderson; Tuanzebe; Mata, Fred, James, Van de Beek
Bookings: Marcus Rashford 50′; Rui Patricio 73′
Written by John Walker
