18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo was United’s matchwinner with a sensational stoppage time strike that cancelled out a 95th minute equaliser.
Erik ten Hag’s men made the trip to the Molineux aiming for their first league win away from home since late November. Things got off to the ideal start when man of the moment (for all the wrong reasons) Marcus Rashford notched his fifth goal of the season inside the opening five minutes.
It had to be him didn’t it. After days of discussion about his conduct off the pitch, it took Rashford just four minutes to open the scoring with a strike that played to the narrative of this contest perfectly.
United’s No. 10 returned to the starting line-up for the first time since his night out in Belfast cost him two-weeks wages and he was omitted from the match-day squad for the FA Cup tie at Newport County.
Ahead of the game, Ten Hag made clear that in his eyes the case was ‘closed’ and he backed that up by naming Rashford in his starting eleven at the Molineux. The forward repaid his manager in the most effective way possible, rifling home a strike that left Jose Sa diving at thin air.
Rashford opened up his right-boot and guided his effort into the top corner after a neat cut-back from team-mate Rasmus Hojlund. The goalscorer barely broke into a smile, but he’ll know he couldn’t have asked for a better start.
So much was made of Hojlund’s struggles during the first half of the season. There was plenty of pressure on the former Atalanta man, particularly because of his eye-watering £72million fee.
As a result, 14 league games without a goal meant Hojlund was starting to attract his critics. However, the 20-year-old now has three goals in United’s last four league outings, with his close-range effort against Wolves coming after more impressive strikes against Aston Villa and Tottenham respectively.
Though this latest goal won’t be winning any awards, it did show that Hojlund boasts the positional awareness required of any top-tier striker. By making the run, he was on hand to capitalise on some unfortunate goalkeeping from Sa.
Hojlund ensured he was a constant thorn in the side of the Wolves backline and nearly left Matt Doherty red-faced when he came oh so close to taking advantage of a shoddy back-pass.
He may not always get the plaudits he deserves, but Scott McTominay made a huge impact off the bench once again this season for United.
Just moments after Sarabia had pulled one back for the hosts, McTominay headed home from a corner to restore the Red Devils’ two-goal cushion and kill some of the momentum Wolves had built up after scoring the dubious penalty.
It wasn’t the most clinically taken header, with the ball bouncing into the turf before springing up into the top corner and leaving Sa rooted to the spot. However, neither McTominay nor Ten Hag will care too much about that.
Mainoo won’t get many better feelings than that for the rest of what promises to be an incredible career if recent performances are anything to go by.
The 18-year-old’s composed finish defied his years, but ensured United won a thrilling affair. He enjoyed a stellar performance regardless of the goal, showing composure time and time again in possession.
It was a goal that the most experienced of strikers would have been proud of, nutmegging Kilman before curling his driven strike past Sa to send the away end into pandemonium
Following the triumph at the Molineux, Ten Hag’s United now move from ninth to seventh in the table, leapfrogging both the Seagulls and Eddie Howe’s Newcastle.