Fernandes sent off as Man Utd lose 2-0 at Wolves
By Reuters
Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off as his side slid to a 2-0 loss at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Thursday — a fourth defeat in their last five Premier League games.
Fernandes earned a second yellow card two minutes after the interval and with Boxing Day fog swirling at Molineux, United’s gloom deepened as Matheus Cunha scored direct from a corner.
It was an embarrassing moment for United goalkeeper Andre Onana and one that summed up the current malaise at the club as they languish in the bottom half of the table.
Wolves held on through a nervy eight added minutes against the 10 men and Hwang Hee-chan made absolutely sure with virtually the last kick after a counter-attack to make it a joyous first home game in charge for new manager Vitor Pereira who began his reign with an away win at Leicester City.
Victory lifted Wolves out of the bottom three into 17th place with 15 points from 18 games while Ruben Amorim’s United ended the day in 14th place with 22 points.
A scrappy game was illuminated by Cunha who was the best player on the pitch, scoring a strange opener and then providing the assist for Hwang to spark home celebrations.
For United manager Amorim it was further proof of the size of the job he has inherited after replacing Erik ten Hag.
He now has the unwanted record of the least number of games for a Manchester United manager to lose four Premier League matches — his seven comfortably fewer than Ten Hag’s 13.
In stark contrast, Pereira is the first manager to win his opening two Premier League games in charge of Wolves.
“He came here with a lot of energy. He said that he dreamed of coming to the Premier League and we saw this, we can see this energy. We can come with these kind of things,” Cunha, who now has 10 league goals this season, said.
Much of the focus will be on Fernandes, though. Already having been booked in the first half, the Portuguese needlessly caught Nelson Semedo to earn a red card and leave his already-toothless side at the mercy of Wolves.
The home side thought they had taken the lead soon afterwards when Jorgen Strand Larsen headed home Semedo’s cross but the goal was ruled out for offside.
But Wolves went ahead in the strangest of circumstances as Matheus Cunha swung in a wickedly curling corner and Onana was nowhere as the ball nestled into the net.
United’s lacklustre display was summed up by striker Rasmus Hojlund failing to have a touch inside the Wolves area before being substituted midway through the second half.
“It’s so tough to win games in this league with 11 men. With 10 men, it’s more difficult,” Amorim said. “We have to focus on that. The sending off was really hard for us.”
