Wolves welcome Manchester United to Molineux on Boxing Day as two newly-arrived Portuguese managers look to instigate a turnaround in fortunes for their sides.
The Vitor Pereira era got off to a fine start on Sunday as Wolves produced one of their best performances of the season, a 3-0 dispatching of Leicester clearing up much of the chaos that had led to Gary O’Neil’s exit. The veteran manager has waited more than a decade for another Premier League opportunity having narrowly missed out on the Everton job in 2013 and is desperate to make the most of it, with victory here lifting the club out of the relegation zone with Leicester not in action until later.
The visitors, meanwhile, concluded their efforts before Christmas with a poor showing against Bournemouth. A seventh defeat of the season leaves Manchester United languishing in the bottom half and with tough fixtures against Liverpool and Newcastle to come over the next few days, Ruben Amorim may need a result here to generate some momentum heading into the back half of the season.
Follow all of the latest updates from Molineux in our live blog below:
Wolves 1-0 Man Utd
63 min: So three changes by Amorim. Ugarte, Mainoo and Yoro are replaced by Antony, Eriksen and Casemiro.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:51
Wolves 1-0 Man Utd
61 min: Amorim is about to make a raft of substitutions. This would be a remarkable turnaround, because not only are Wolves on top but Molineux is bouncing, while the United players look positively shaken.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:49
GOAL! Wolves 1-0 Man Utd (Cunha, 58)
Wow – Matheus Cunha whips the ball over Andre Onana and inside the far post straight from the corner! What a goal that is.
That’s twice in recent weeks United have conceded straight from a corner kick. Onana is furious, claiming he was impeded, but the replay suggests he simply should have done much better.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:46
Wolves 0-0 Man Utd
57 min: Doherty floats a really dangerous cross into the penalty area but it’s not attacked by Strand Larsen and United clear the ball behind for a corner. Wolves, and the home crowd, can scent blood here.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:44
Wolves 0-0 Man Utd
55 min: No subs yet made by Ruben Amorim in response to losing his captain. It looks like Amad, Ugarte and Mainoo are in a three-man midfield right now, leaving Hojlund even more isolated that he was before.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:43
Wolves 0-0 Man Utd
53 min: That, by the way, was Bruno’s third red card of the season, even if the one at Spurs was eventually overturned.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:41
Wolves 0-0 Man Utd
50 min: Wolves immediately strike as Jorgen Strand Larsen nods in Nelson Semedo’s cross, but he was offside.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:39
Wolves 0-0 Man Utd
49 min: The studs were up and raked down the leg of the Wolves defender. A very silly challenge so soon into the second half.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:39
RED CARD! Manchester United (Bruno Fernandes)
What a disastrous start to the half for United! Bruno Fernandes was booked in the first period and now he’s sent off for a poor challenge on Semedo. He can have no complaints.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:36
Kick-off: Wolves 0-0 Man Utd
Back underway at Molineux.
Lawrence Ostlere26 December 2024 18:35
