TA: MU's chaotic goal show efficiency; Wolves' rare goal didn't reverse decline

Manchester United moved up to sixth in the Premier League with a victory that ensured winless Wolverhampton Wanderers will be bottom of the table at Christmas.

The game began with home fans protesting outside the stadium and not watching the first 15 minutes of the match. They had not been inside for long when they saw their team fall behind to a scrappy Bruno Fernandes opener.

There was briefly a rare sense of hope at Molineux when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde equalised just before half-time.

For a short while, United faced the prospect of an embarrassing result against a team with just two points all season, but the visitors quickly asserted their dominance in the second half.

Once Bryan Mbeumo restored their lead, there was never really much doubt about the outcome, with Mason Mount adding a third and Fernandes scoring a late penalty after a handball by Yerson Mosquera.

Breaking down Ferandes' bizarre opening goal

It might go down as one of the ugliest goals of the season.

United had begun brightly at Molineux but lacked the finishing touch to make their early pressure count. Two chances in two minutes offered the visitors encouragement, with Diogo Dalot and Mbeumo forcing saves from Sam Johnstone, but United nerves increased as the scoreline remained 0-0.

The breakthrough came in the 25th minute, a goal that was memorable — albeit largely for the wrong reasons.

Wolves midfielder Andre was ambling in possession just inside his own half, taking an age to make up his mind about what he wanted to do.

Andre had not really been under that much pressure, but he invited Casemiro onto him and the veteran Brazilian stuck a foot out and prodded the ball away from his compatriot.

The ball fell to Matheus Cunha who could have elected to shoot against his former side, but attempted to square the ball to an onrushing Fernandes to further maximise United’s chances of scoring.

Except the 26-year-old’s pass with the outside of his right boot was scruffy, wrong-footing Fernandes, who was moving at pace and eventually slipped as he attempted to halt his motion.

The United captain quickly got back to his feet and used his intelligence to move his body in front of Emmanuel Agbadou to shield the ball before the Portuguese attempted a somewhat bungled effort on goal.

Fernandes’ shot struck Johnstone but had just enough power to trickle into the net and give United a 1-0 lead.

How did United allow Wolves to end their goalless run?

There is a very good chance this Wolves side will go down as one of the Premier League’s worst teams — perhaps even the worst if they continue on their current points trajectory.

Rob Edwards has only been the manager since November, but he has inherited a team that has now gone 226 days without a Premier League win.

They had lost their previous seven league matches and had not scored in five. The only Wolves player to ‘score’ in November was Mosquera, an own goal in a 3-0 defeat by Fulham. Fan discontent is at such a level that hundreds elected to spend the game’s opening 15 minutes outside the ground chanting, “you sold the team, now sell the club” towards the unpopular Fosun ownership group.

And yet… they managed to find a way through United’s defence.

Two minutes into first-half stoppage time, an overhit cross from the left wing flew over the heads of several players before another cross, this time from Ki-Jana Hoever on the right, was chested down by David Moller Wolfe. He cut a cross back from the left and into the path of Bellegarde, who scored an equaliser that transformed the mood at Molineux, for a while at least.

“We’ve scored a goal,” the home fans sang with no little hint of astonishment and irony. It was Wolves’ first in almost 540 minutes of football.

Whatever team talk Amorim had planned for the interval had to be quickly altered. United were once again undone due to their weakness when defending aerial balls.

How much will United miss their AFCON contingent?

Bryan Mbeumo scores Manchester United’s second goal (Simon Stacpoole/Offside via Getty Images)

Thankfully, any second-half jitters were put to bed quickly thanks to a 51st-minute goal from Mbeumo.

His strike came from a quick counter-attack, with Luke Shaw retrieving the ball from Bellegarde in the defensive third before quick interplay from Fernandes, Cunha and Dalot enabled the Cameroon international to get onto the ball in space in the Wolves penalty box before applying the finishing touch.

Mbeumo and the rest of United’s African players, who are due to be absent when the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) begins later this month, showed what the team will miss when they are not available.

Ivorian Amad Diallo was integral to much of the team’s attacking play, accumulating 44 touches of the ball by the hour mark (six in the opposition box) and leaving Wolfe and Toti Gomes tied up in defensive knots. Morocco’s Noussair Mazraoui has had a slow start to this season due to illness and injury, but he put in a fine performance on the right of Amorim’s back three.

Last week, FIFA announced the deadline for clubs to release players for AFCON had been pushed back to December 15, and clubs have been encouraged to find individual solutions with competing national teams if they wish to hold onto players for longer. They will surely hope they are available for next Monday’s game against Bournemouth, which comes just six days before the tournament begins.

It was an Englishman, Mount, whose 62nd-minute goal ensured the final stages of this game were relatively comfortable for Amorim, a rare feeling for a manager who has endured a tough season so far. Fernandes’ late penalty confirmed the victory.

With Benjamin Sesko and Matthijs de Ligt unavailable due to injury, his squad is a little underpowered in both penalty areas. This victory was welcome, particularly with options about to be limited still further.