Manchester United failed to secure a place at the top of the Premier League table as they squandered a one-goal lead against Wolverhampton Wanderers in their second match of the 2019/20 season. The Red Devils took the lead through Anthony Martial’s phenomenal strike in the first half only to see it being cancelled by Ruben Neves’ scintillating goal to bring the hosts back in the match. However, United could not capitalize on the penalty that they got in the second half as Paul Pogba’s shot was saved by Rui Patricio and the match ended all square.
It was a game that had everything in it and we will look at four such talking points from the match between Wolves and Manchester United at the Molineux in the following lines.
Manchester United has problems with its strike force
It goes without saying that Marcus Rashford and Anthony Martial are looking dominant over the opposition defence with every passing game. The way these two bonded together in the match against Wolves made things jolted for the likes of Conor Coady and Ryan Bennett on a number of occasions. In fact, the duo combined with ease to get the first goal of the match for the Red Devils, which should be a matter of major concern for their oppositions in the forthcoming fixtures.
Despite the fact that Rashford and Martial made a strong statement with their excellent performances against Wolves, Jesse Lingard fell way short of what was expected of him. He lacked composure throughout the match and could not get his shots on target when the opportunity was there. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer won’t be much pleased with the Englishman’s performance in the second match of the Premier League season and there might be enough reason for Lingard to worry about.
Pogba’s lack of composure
It won’t be right to say that the Frenchman had a bad game. That is in terms of his contribution in the midfield. However, he failed to deliver when it mattered the most. He was provided with the best opportunity of the match. That was to put the game in the favour of the Red Devils.
Despite that, he could not convert from the spot. This is Pogba’s fourth penalty miss since the last term. He managed to score only seven out of eleven spot-kicks in this period. This should be an area of major concern for him as well as for his manager, who might be kicking himself to have relied on Pogba rather than Rashford, who had scored from the spot against Chelsea in the first match of the campaign.
The Portuguese midfielder’s legacy keeps growing with every passing match. His composure in the middle of the pitch while vying for the ball or passing it quite accurately was great yet again. Due to this, he was easily able to set up his teammates. That too with pinpoint passes against the Red Devils. Not to mention his thunderous strike. The one that ended the hopes for the visitors to bag three points from the match. It could well be a contender for the goal of the season. That is as far as the current campaign is concerned.
