Wolves 1-1 Manchester United: Three things we learnt from the game
Manchester United dropped their first points of the season with a draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Anthony Martial opened the scoring for Manchester United with a brilliant left-footed strike past Rui Patricio. However, Wolves started the second half with a much higher intensity and pushed Manchester United on to the back-foot.
Their dominance paid off as Ruben Neves equalised with a magical goal from outside the box. The Red Devils had the chance to bag all three points when Paul Pogba earned a penalty. However, the Frenchman failed to capitalise on the chance and saw his strike saved by the 'keeper. A draw feels like a fair result as the game was even, especially in the second half.
Here are three things we learnt from Manchester United's draw against Wolverhampton Wanderers.
#3 Anthony Martial is relishing his number-9 role
Martial celebrates his strike versus the Wolves.
After the departure of Romelu Lukaku, Anthony Martial has been given the opportunity to lead the line for Manchester United. The 23-year-old enjoyed his most prolific season at the club playing as a main striker up front and is being deployed in the same position by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer this season.
The Frenchman seems to be relishing his role as the central striker and has now scored two goals in his last two games in the Premier League. Moreover, his work-rate and movement off the ball have improved tremendously this season, and his goal against Wolves was a perfect example of it. This was also his 50th goal for the club.
Seeing Marcus Rashford running towards the opposition defence with the ball, the Frenchman made a brilliant run behind the centre-back and fired the ball past Patricio with a wonderful first-time shot. The 23-year-old is looking confident in front of goal this season and could end up being in the race for the golden boot if he continues like this.
#2 Manchester United didn't create enough opportunities
Paul Pogba had a mixed outing.
As expected, Manchester United enjoyed a lot of possession throughout the 90 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers. However, despite all the possession, they created too few opportunities to score. United could only manage two shots on target throughout the 90 minutes, which is very less considering the fact that they had 65% of the possession.
Paul Pogba is the chief creator in this Manchester United side, however, he was unable to create much playing in a more deeper role against Wolves. Barring him, no other player on the pitch looked capable of creating opportunities for the Red Devils. Jesse Lingard, who was supposed to be the link between midfield and attack, looked out of sorts against Wolverhampton Wanderers and failed to influence the game in a way he would have liked.
#1 Ruben Neves is the kind of midfielder Manchester United need
Manchester United were looking to bolster their midfield in the summer with the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Christian Eriksen and Paulo Dybala all linked to them at some point in the transfer window. They didn't bring in a midfielder this summer as they didn't deem it as a necessity at that moment, however, the game against Wolves showed that they might have made a mistake. United needed a midfielder who can unlock teams that sit in a low-defensive block just like Wolves and can work the opposition goalkeeper from distance. And Wolves' Ruben Neves showed that he is the perfect candidate.
The 22-year-old Portuguese midfielder was colossal in midfield against Manchester United, winning the ball back in his defensive third and straightaway feeding the ball to the likes of Raul Jimenez and Diogo Jota to counter-attack.
He also displayed that he is capable of producing a moment of magic with a sensational goal from outside the box. If the Red Devils decide to bolster their midfield anytime soon, Ruben Neves can be on the top of the list.