Manchester United defeated Wolverhampton and are now just one point out of the top four in the Premier League.
Manchester United moved into sixth place in the Premier League on Monday after captain Bruno Fernandes scored twice to beat bottom club Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-1. That tragic season grows darker with each passing week.
Dejected Wolves fans spent much of the first half chanting in protest at the club’s Chinese owner Fosun, but the mood worsened when Fernandes gave United the lead in the 25th minute.
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To their credit, Wolves showed some action, with Haitian international Jean-Richner Bellegarde scoring an equalizer in stoppage time and cheering at half-time.
Brian Mbeumo’s tap-in in the 52nd minute restored United’s lead, and Mason Mount’s composed finish made it 3-1 just after the hour mark. Fernandes finished United’s job by winning a penalty after his handball was spotted by VAR.
When nine minutes of stoppage time was announced, Wolves fans still inside Molineux booed and chanted “Blow the whistle”.
Ruben Amorim’s United have 25 points from 15 games, but Wolves are left two points behind after a club-record eighth straight league defeat and 13th defeat of the season and are in danger of making Premier League history they don’t want.
They have the lowest points after 15 games in the history of England’s top four leagues and have not won a league game since April, with 16 losses and three draws.
Wolves are now 13 points from safety and the question is not whether they can escape, but whether they can surpass Derby County’s lowest ever points tally in the Premier League, which was just 11 points in 2007-08.
united looking up
While Wolves were looking down, United were starting to look up, and after periods of looking vulnerable in the first half, their performance in the second half was fluid.
They ended up with 27 goal attempts, the most since Amorim took over, and could have won by a much larger margin.
“We attack freely. I thought some of the combinations going forward were crisp and sharp. That’s what we can do,” said Mount, who fired a sweet first-time volley into the area from Fernandes’ chipped ball.
Fernandes took the lead after falling and firing a shot past Sam Johnstone and into the Wolves goal.
However, United lost control and Wolves equalized just before the interval when Bellegarde fired home after David Moller-Wolf’s shot was deflected.
It was Wolves’ first goal in 540 minutes, but after a brief burst of joy, darkness descended again in the second half when Diogo Dalot scored for Mbeumo.
After Mount’s goal, Fernandes, with his usual confidence, converted his second penalty of the night after Elson Mosquera was adjudged by VAR to have disposed of his shot on goal.
Wolves were jeered and manager Rob Edwards, who replaced Vitor Pereira last month, said he could not blame Wolves.
“There was anger in the stadium. The players are working hard. The supporters are angry too. I can understand that,” he said.
“We’re joining a team that hasn’t won since April in the toughest league in the world. We didn’t expect it to turn around so quickly.”
Things are likely to get much worse before they get better for the Midlands club, as they next have a trip to Premier League leaders Arsenal.
