Manchester United’s captain Bruno Fernandes, was expelled for the third time this season, while Ruben Amorim’s team lost for the fourth time in five Premier League games.
After a lackluster first half, Fernandes did not make his appearance two minutes after the restart. Cautiously, Fernandes scratched Nelson Semedo’s ankle and earned a yellow moment from referee Tony Harrington.
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It soon went from bad to worse in the 58th minute when Matheus Cunha’s corner went over Andre Onana and straight into the far corner, the second time United have conceded an ‘olimpico’ in a week.
The 10 United men were sought from an equalizer, but the result was questioned in the ninth minute of additional time when Cunha separated and established Hwang Hee-chan to hit the house from a short distance.
This allowed new Wolves head trainer Vitor Pereira to make it two wins in two – how Amorim, who once back left Marcus Rashford out of his team, will have to be dreaming of back-to-back victories. His team slipped to 14th place.
Mark Critchley of athletic analysis in Molineux.
Fernandes only had two career sendings off to his name before the start of this season, both during his time at Sporting CP. He has surpassed that total in just 27 appearances this season.
The United captain is the first player from the club to be sent three times to a single campaign since Nemanja Vidic in the 2008-2009 campaign. And he took Vidic until March.
And the straight red against Tottenham Hotspur was rightly canceled and even the one a few days later in Porto can be questioned, this time there may be no complaints.
If the failure in Cunha for the first cynical reserve, the moment in Semedo reckless for any player, whatever it is already in a yellow, whatever a united pattern.
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And for us readers:
? Use Network | #Wolmun pic. twitter. com/c4xhkqisbv
— NBC Sports Soccer (@nbcsportssoccer) December 26, 2024
Fernandes has played with an advantage. Perhaps a concentrated explosion of shipping was inevitable faster or later. But at a time when United wants leadership he desperately needed, he found his captain.
If you had “United will concede twice straight from a corner in the area a week” on your 2024-25 bingo cards, then fair play. You have to appreciate that this team discovers strange new things to disappoint.
Anyone at Old Trafford who hasn’t heard of an ‘Olimpico’ this time last week will now do so after Cunha emulated his son Heung-min by locating the net from the sharpest angles.
Altay Bayindir did not take credit for this mistake against Tottenham and on this occasion, he could not fully judge the flight of the ball.
Matheus Cunha swings straight and Wolves lead Man utd ? #plonprime #wolmun pic. twitter. com/h0t3lvhzxg
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And for American readers:
? USA Network | #Wolmun pic. twitter. com/qah9ymv7pt
– NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportssoccer) December 26, 2024
Onana worn out through the Lobos players, and did not present much coverage through her teammates. It is a collective and individual failure.
And so, this will be some other granted purpose of a loose kick, this time, literally. United has now reached double this unhappy indicator.
With this, he has suffered more defeats as a coach this season than Erik Ten Hag before his dismissal.
That is not the full picture — there have been plenty of positives along the way and, as Amorim has reiterated, United will have to weather a storm to get where they need to be.
But he also said that the process needed effects. United is now 14th and the hole in relation to their target is widening.
Amorim’s team is seven points behind Newcastle United, fifth, who will go to Old Trafford on Monday. The fourth position may be only 14 numbers until tomorrow.
Any remote hope of turning things around and competing for Champions League qualification across the league is diminishing. Meanwhile, disorders multiply.
The attack lacks balance and fluidity. The defense cannot keep the ball out of the plays. Amorim has a lot to repair.
On the Fernandes red card:
“I will always be frustrated with a red card, but it can happen. He wanted to go for the ball. It’s not like he wanted to stop a play with a yellow — he wants to go to the ball. The other guy touched the ball first, and there was a contact. That thing is tough on him, also.”
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Disappointed with Onana by the first goal of the Wolves?
“In the same way that I saw Tottenham. Some things when you jump, the smallest touch – unlike Tottenham was in the arm and today in the back – when you touch someone when it jumps, it is difficult to catch it. Ball. That’s all “
Managed for a month, are they worse than expected?
“I made it, but I didn’t train. They want time to train. They absolutely replace the way you play. In fact, it is complicated for them and also for the staff to transmit all the information. When you don’t get results, it’s hard for them to find it even harder. We will have to continue. We already knew that it was a difficult moment and that we had to concentrate on the next game.
Should United worry about not getting pulled further down the table?
“At this time, we just have to buy time to paint on the team. We already knew it. I started with this task with a team and a new concept without time to practice with many hard moves. It’s a long adventure. As I said the first day .
How is it okay?
“I have no idea. Instead of trying to understand how much time it’ll take, we’ll go day by day. Improving, trying to see the videos, using every minute of training and trying to win points.”
Monday, December 0: Newcastle United (home), Premier League, 8 p. m. United Kingdom, p. m. eastern time