Wolves outplayed United in almost every department and were the better team for most parts of the game. They were full value for the three points.
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Manchester United suffered its first defeat under interim manager Ralf Rangnick on Monday night when they lost 1-0 at home to Wolves. The scoreline might reflect a narrow loss for the Old Trafford outfit, but the reality was totally different. The visitors outplayed United in almost every department and were the better team for most parts of the game. They were full value for the three points. Notably, Wolves won at the Theatre of Dreams for the first time since 1980, thanks to Joao Moutinho’s 82nd-minute winner.
After the match, Ralf spoke to MUTV, Sky Sports, the BBC, and to reporters at his press conference about the disappointing outing. “We didn’t play well at all, neither individually nor collectively. In the first half, we had big problems to keep them away from our box and from our goal. In the second half, we changed to a different formation, with a back three, and we had more control on the game. The game showed that we have a lot of work to do, especially against the ball. We had too many unforced errors and we have to get better. This is an issue of the whole team,” he added.
Rangnick then spoke about the challenges of facing the well-drilled Wolves side, as well as expressing his disappointment in the way Manchester United conceded that late goal. “We knew it could be a complicated game because Wolves, with a back five, are very flexible in midfield. They had almost four or five central midfielders and we had problems to control that part of the pitch. Whenever they tried to release, via their wing-backs, we were also struggling,” he explained.
“We had a spell of 15 minutes where we could have scored, we hit the crossbar, but the goal that we conceded again showed we had enough players in the box but we allowed Adama Traore, back to goal, to turn, gain speed and bring in the cross. The cross was already defended by Phil Jones but the goal was one of too many [like it] this season as Joao Moutinho could shoot, completely unmarked with no problems and no pressure at all.”
“We missed out on scoring the first goal with Bruno [Fernandes], it would have been possible to get the important first goal. We had two situations, one with Bruno and the other with Cristiano [Ronaldo], who was unfortunately offside. In general, we just need to find a better balance within our team, defensively and offensively.”
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