Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester United – Football Match Report – 31st December 2022

Marcus Rashford came off the bench to score a late winner in Manchester United’s 1-0 win over Wolves on Saturday.

The striker was dropped from the starting line-up after oversleeping and arriving late for a team meeting.

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However, the England international was brought on after half-time and his strike earned United a crucial win.

The result sees United climb to fourth in the Premier League while Wolves remain in the relegation zone.

“[Rashford] was brilliant, he was lively and he scored a goal to give a good reaction,” manager Erik ten Hag told BT Sport. “Everyone has to play by the rules and if you react like that, that’s the right answer.

“We weren’t that good in the first half. In my opinion, the second half was better. I wasn’t happy at halftime and told them with that attitude that they wouldn’t win. not this game and everyone had to give 10% more.”

Alejandro Garnacho, who was brought in to replace Rashford on the bench, had a big chance after 17 minutes when he pounced on Nelson Semedo’s error but had his effort saved by Jose Sa.

United posed the biggest threat in the first half and should have led before the break, but Anthony Martial couldn’t connect with a close-range header.

Rashford was signed for Garnacho at half-time and United’s performance began to improve.

Sa was again called into action early in the second half as he snuffed out Antony’s shot inside the box.

Moments later, David de Gea pulled out his first significant save from Ruben Neves’ long-range free kick.

United managed to break the deadlock after 76 minutes when Rashford netted a brace with Bruno Fernandes before kicking the ball past Sa.

Rashford thought he had grabbed a second five minutes from time but his effort was ruled out by VAR for the handball.

Raul Jimenez thought he had grabbed a late equalizer but his header was brilliantly saved by De Gea as United held on for victory.

“The goals come after good work and we work as a team in and out of possession,” said Julen Lopetegui.

“Maybe we didn’t have the best decision-making in the box. We had five or six good situations to hurt them but we had some good chances.”

Information from Reuters has been included in this report.