Ruben Neves scored a superb equaliser for Wolves while Paul Pogba missed a penalty as Manchester United were held to a 1-1 draw at Molineux. Wolves came into the game having defeated United twice on home soil in 2019 with 2-1 wins in the Premier League and FA Cup respectively.
It looked unlikely that they would make it three wins on the spin as the Red Devils dominated the opening 45 minutes and deservedly led through an Anthony Martial’s 50th goal for the club in all competitions.
But Wolves responded well in the second half and levelled matters 10 minutes in thanks to another special strike from Neves.
Pogba then spurned a great chance to put United back in front when he had a penalty saved by Rui Patricio as the two sides settled for a share of the spoils.
Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo reverted back to the same XI that drew 0-0 at Leicester on the opening weekend having made nine changes in Europe last Thursday.
There was just one change for United from the 4-0 win against Chelsea as Ole Gunner Solskjaer handed a full debut to Daniel James in place of Andreas Pereira after he found the net in his seven-minute cameo appearance last Sunday.
It took until the 19th minute for the first opportunity when Marcus Rashford turned Ryan Bennett inside out down the left and put a cross towards the back post which Martial failed to make contact with under pressure from Willy Boly.
United continued to look the more likely and it was no surprise when they took the lead in the 27th minute.
Jese Lingard played in Rashford who then spotted the run of Martial just inside the area and the French hitman slammed a rising effort beyond Patricio and high into the net.
United continued to dominate possession, but their only other chance of the first half came just before the interval when an under-hit back-pass from Bennett let in Martial who appeared to stand on the ball just inside the area and that gave Patricio time to gather.
Adama Traore replaced Matt Doherty at half-time and Wolves started the second period brightly with Raul Jimenez inches away from equalising on 54 minutes when he got his head to a Neves free-kick from the right but watched as the ball bounced off the inside of the post before rebounding to safety off David De Gea.
Wolves were level within a minute when Joao Moutinho picked out Neves just outside the box from the right and the Portuguese star curled an unstoppable effort beyond the reach of De Gea and into the top corner. There was a wait while VAR checked for an offside in the build-up, but the hosts were relieved when it was given.
For all of Wolves’ positive play, United should have re-taken the lead in the 68th minute when they were awarded a penalty after Bennett sent Pogba tumbling in the box, but the Frenchman’s spot-kick was impressively pushed away by the diving Patricio.
Wolves had the slight edge in the closing stages but could not clinch a third consecutive 2-1 win in this fixture at Molineux, while United missed the chance to go top of the embryonic Premier League table.
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