Manchester United 0 Wolves 1 - Report

A drab first half saw Wolves struggle to get a foothold in the game with several sloppy passes.

The second half was marginally better, but the disappointing contest looked destined for a goalless draw.

That was until Sarabia stepped over a free-kick 25 yards from goal and curled home into the top corner.

Wolves hung on for their first league double over United since the 1979/80 season, marking their sixth consecutive game unbeaten and fifth win in a row.

Ipswich’s loss against Arsenal also meant Wolves officially avoided relegation with five games left to play.

Analysis

Vitor Pereira made two changes to his Wolves side following their win over Spurs last time out.

Santi Bueno and Matheus Cunha came in for Matt Doherty and Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, amid some injury concerns among the team.

Doherty was fit enough to make the bench but Bellegarde missed out on the squad alongside Hwang Hee-chan and Goncalo Guedes.

Sam Johnstone and Pedro Lima were also unavailable due to injury.

Ruben Amorim made six changes to his United side after their remarkable Europa League comeback win over Lyon on Thursday night, as he named a weakened squad.

Talisman Bruno Fernandes was rested and left on the bench, while 20-year-old defender Tyler Fredricson was handed his full debut.

As the teams were warming up, Wolves were dealt a blow when goalkeeper Jose Sa landed awkwardly and seemingly injured his back.

As a result, Dan Bentley came into the starting XI and Tom King was brought onto the bench.

Bentley had only made seven Premier League appearances before the fixture, with his debut coming at Old Trafford in May 2023.

In an even start to the half, both sides looked after possession well in search of the opening goal.

An avoidable Wolves mistake, from a poor Toti Gomes clearance, gave Kobbie Mainoo the opportunity to go down in the box under little contact, but the notion of a penalty was waved away by referee Robert Jones.

Emmanuel Agbadou was then locked in a foot race with Alejandro Garnacho and the Wolves man won it, making a vital clearance.

After 20 minutes, a slow-paced contest had offered up few chances and Wolves needed to sharpen up some sloppy passes.

Christian Eriksen whipped in a dangerous corner right on top of Bentley, but the goalkeeper did well to punch it away under pressure.

Mainoo took aim for the bottom corner from distance after the ball broke to him, but it flashed wide of the post.

A poor half of football ended with neither side creating anything meaningful and the game locked at 0-0.

United started the second half the brighter of the two teams, too, but Wolves opened them up for the first time when Cunha’s pass found Jorgen Strand Larsen, but his cross was straight into the arms of Andre Onana.

Rasmus Hojlund was racing towards goal after turning Agbadou, but Toti made a magnificent sliding tackle to deny the United striker.

At the other end, Larsen came close with a header from a corner.

United came very close when Garnacho’s low cross towards the far post was almost turned home by Hojlund, but the striker could not reach it when stretching and sliding in.

Fernandes then had a great chance when Garnarcho pulled the ball back to the captain inside the box, but he lashed at it and fired wide.

The game was crying out for a moment of quality and substitute Sarabia delivered it in the 77th minute. With a free-kick from around 25 yards out, the Spaniard whipped it to Onana’s left with his left foot and found the top corner.

The wonderful strike sent the away end into raptures and put Wolves in control of the game.

But Mason Mount almost equalised when Garnarcho pulled the ball back for him, but he was leaning back and fired over the bar.

Wolves had a huge chance to seal the game in the 93rd minute when Rodrigo Gomes raced clear and could have crossed for Sarabia to tap home, but he did not see his team-mate and the chance was lost.

The loud away end was helping drag the team over the line during six minutes of added time, as Wolves brought on defender Nasser Djiga to shore up the back line.

The final whistle was eventually blown, as Wolves secured a famous victory and continued their remarkable winning run.

It is the first time the club have won five consecutive top flight games since 1970, where they won six on the bounce.

Key Moments

GOAL 77 Sarabia curls home a wonderful free-kick from 25 yards

Teams

Wolves: Bentley, Semedo (R.Gomes, 74), Bueno, Agbadou, Toti, Ait-Nouri (Doherty, 82), Andre, J.Gomes, Munetsi, Cunha (Djiga, 93), Larsen (Sarabia, 74).

Subs not used: King, Traore, Doyle, Forbs, Mane.

Manchester United: Onana, Dorgu (Dalot, 58), Mazraoui, Lindelof (Yoro, 78), Fredricson, Amass, Ugarte (Fernandes, 58), Mainoo (Mount, 58), Eriksen, Garnacho, Hojlund (Obi, 69).

Subs not used: Heaton, Evans, Maguire, Casemiro.