United Review | Wolves at home

United 1 - 1 Wolves

Another missed opportunity. 

Author | Olivia T

Without eight senior players due to a combination of injuries and selection for AFCON, we were far from our best but still managed to go in front thanks to Joshua Zirkzee's deflected 27th-minute effort.

However, like the West Ham and Bournemouth matches, we could't hold out which resulted in more dropped points. 

After the match, the conversation started to once again turn to whether the manager is the correct man for the job. More of that, later on. 

A closer analysis of what happened on a frustrating night 

Joshua Zirkzee opened the scoring in a well-fought first-half, benefitting from a deflection off Ladislav Krejci, but the Wolves defender righted his wrongs on the stroke of half-time, nodding home an equaliser after the Reds failed to clear a corner.

With Academy lad Jack Fletcher thrown on for Zirkzee at the break, United came out with far more zip and intent than we saw before half time. The second period sparked into life when Sesko glanced a header at Sa from close range, giving the Wolves keeper a moment to worry, even if the flag eventually went up.

Pre-match atmosphere

Wolves had clearly come with the aim of slowing things down after pulling a goal back, but the referee was having none of it. Sa took an age over a restart and the official promptly awarded United a corner, to the delight of the home support.

Not long after, Wolves almost handed us a gift. A horrible mix up between Yerson Mosquera and Sa saw the defender head the ball back towards his own goal, with Sa left scrambling to claw it away just before it crossed the line. Goal line technology confirmed what we thought from the stands, that it was millimetres away from disaster for them.

United were well on top at this stage, but hearts were in mouths just after the hour when Wolves suddenly threatened. Somehow, Senne Lammens stood firm, producing outstanding reactions to keep out efforts from both Krejci and Mosquera from close range around the six yard box. It was a huge moment and another reminder of his growing importance to this side.

United looked to have sealed all three points at the death through a Patrick Dorgu strike, but the 21-year-old was ruled offside, after an agonising VAR check, meaning Ruben Amorim's side were forced to settle for a point against the bottom club.