5 takeaways from Manchester United's home draw with Wolves
Manchester United were held to a lacklustre home draw with newly promoted Wolverhampton Wanderers on a windy afternoon at Old Trafford on September 22, 2018.
United's legendary manager, Sir Alex Ferguson returned to the director's box for the first time since he underwent brain surgery, but will have been disappointed by what he witnessed from his former team.
After the match, current United boss, Jose Mourinho questioned his side's attitude and praised the opponent's approach to the game.
Quite, why United's players could not gear themselves up appropriately for a home Premier League match is an extremely worrying point to ponder.
Prior to this match, it appeared United's early season wobble was behind them after embarrassing reverses versus Brighton and Tottenham Hotspur. Three consecutive away wins in all competitions against Burnley, Watford and Young Boys looked to have turned the tide but the draw against Wolves and the manner of it has placed United firmly back at square one.
Wolves started the brighter of the two teams with more pressure on the ball than the home side and United had David de Gea to thank for not falling behind.
United could count themselves fortunate that they were the ones to take the lead after a clever move from Paul Pogba and neat finish by Fred.
However, Wolves ended the first half more brightly and began the second in exactly the same vein. They put United's defence under increased pressure and after 57 minutes, the lively Joao Moutinho equalised with a stunning strike that even the impressive de Gea could not keep out.
United did have the better of the final exchanges but could not carve out any clear opportunities and it will be seen as two points lost rather than one gained.
This slideshow looks at five of the key takeaways coming out of the match.
#5 Alexis Sanchez was lucky to start
Alexis Sanchez was rested for the mid-week 3-0 victory over Young Boys in the Champions League with Anthony Martial deputising and impressing with a goal in the European encounter.
United would have benefited from Martial's directness earlier in the game as Sanchez put forward one of his worst performances in recent memory.
Wasteful in possession with an awful final ball, many promising United attacks ended as soon as the ball reached Sanchez.
The Old Trafford crowd cheered his substitution in the second half. Despite playing in his favoured position at United, Sanchez has not delivered anywhere near the world class performance levels he displayed at Arsenal and Barcelona.