United downed by Wolves in dismal new year start
Joao Moutinho's late strike downed an insipid Manchester United as Wolverhampton Wanderers recorded a 1-0 win in the Premier League on Tuesday (AEDT).
Wolves had not played since 20 December (AEDT) because of COVID-19 issues but dominated the opening proceedings at Old Trafford, United only holding on thanks to David de Gea repeatedly thwarting Bruno Lage's side.
Substitute Bruno Fernandes and Roman Saiss traded second-half strikes against the woodwork, either side of Cristiano Ronaldo – stand-in captain in the absence of Harry Maguire – seeing a goal ruled out for offside.
Moutinho then struck with eight minutes remaining to condemn Ralf Rangnick to his first defeat in charge of the Red Devils, who sit seventh in the league, four points behind fourth-placed Arsenal.
Wolves had not scored in their past 13 league games against United, dating back to 2004, but pinned back Rangnick's languid side for much of the first half.
Daniel Podence twice forced smart stops from De Gea, while the Spain international produced an expert save to tip over Ruben Neves's thunderous volley as Lage's side headed in at the break with nothing to show for its efforts.
United picked up the pace after the interval, Fernandes slamming a shot on to the crossbar after Nemanja Matic's cross before teeing up Ronaldo's header past Jose Sa, which was disallowed for offside.
Saiss curled a free-kick against the woodwork, with Moutinho then delivering the decisive strike as he fired into the bottom-left corner of the goal.
Jose Sa kept out Fernandes's stoppage-time free-kick as Lage's side played out an eighth straight league game with less than one goal scored in it.
