According to coach Erik ten Hag, Man Utd played well, could have led 4-0 in the first half but wasted it and had to rely on a goal in the 7th minute of injury time to beat Wolves 4-3 in the Premier League.
"It was an important win, but the game had many sides," Ten Hag said after the match. "Let's look at the positives first. We played very well and dominated the first hour. We should have been 3-0, 4-0 up but we were wasteful and naive at the end. We shouldn't have conceded that goal, but then we showed resilience."
Coach Erik ten Hag encouraged Casemiro when he replaced the Brazilian midfielder in the 4-3 win over Wolves in the 22nd round of the Premier League at Molineux Stadium on February 1. Photo: AFP
At Molineux on February 1, Man Utd dominated with 55% possession, twice as many shots as Wolves (8 compared to 4), and led 2-0 after 22 minutes thanks to the striker duo Marcus Rashford and Rasmus Hojlund. After that, the "Red Devils" had two goals from Hojlund and Casemiro denied for offside.
In the second half, Pablo Sarabia's penalty reduced the score, before Scott McTominay restored the two-goal lead for Man Utd. But then in the 85th minute and the fifth minute of injury time, Max Kilman and Pedro Neto scored, equalizing 3-3 for Wolves.
The climax came in the seventh minute of injury time, when 18-year-old midfielder Kobbie Mainoo soloed past two Wolves players, drove into the penalty area, before curling a low shot into the far corner to seal a 4-3 win. Mainoo scored his first goal for Man Utd in his eighth Premier League appearance.
According to Ten Hag, Man Utd have many players who have just returned from injury, are not in the best shape and are tired towards the end of the match. The Dutch coach believes that this problem will improve in the near future. "If you lead 2-0 and 3-1, you cannot let the opponent come back like that," he added about the match's developments. "That was too naive and not good. We have to improve, play more consistently throughout the match, but I am satisfied with the team's performance in the first 60 minutes."
Mainoo was born in 2005 and started playing for Man Utd at the age of nine. The English midfielder made his first-team debut in 2022, but only became a regular this season. He is the fourth teenager to score a stoppage-time winner for Man Utd in the Premier League, after Alejandro Garnacho against Fulham in November 2022, Marcus Rashford against Hull in August 2016 and Federico Macheda against Aston Villa in April 2009.
Midfielder Kobbie Mainoo scores the winning goal for Man Utd in a 4-3 victory over Wolves in round 22 of the Premier League at Molineux Stadium on February 1. Photo: Reuters
"Mainoo is making incredible progress," Ten Hag said. "He has great ability and is a modern midfielder. He is calm, can defend and attack and has the physical ability to do both."
Meanwhile, Mainoo expressed his feelings about his first Premier League goal: "I'm still in a daze, feeling like I'm in a dream. We got an important win on a difficult pitch."
The 18-year-old midfielder feels playing alongside captain Bruno Fernandes has helped him improve and is enjoying a breakthrough season. "Fernandes is a good role model both on and off the pitch, which is good," Mainoo added.
The win over Wolves lifted Man Utd to seventh place with 35 points, but they are still eight points behind fourth-placed Tottenham. On February 4, Ten Hag's team will return to Old Trafford to face West Ham - the club just above them with 36 points.
Hong Duy
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