London, Dec 27: Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes was sent off for the third time this season as Wolves continued their perfect start under new boss Vitor Pereira with victory over the Red Devils.
Fernandes was dismissed for a second yellow card two minutes into the second half, having already been sent off against Tottenham and Porto earlier in the campaign.
The hosts capitalised on their numerical advantage 11 minutes later when Matheus Cunha became the second player in three games to score directly from a corner against United.
Just as Son Heung-min did for Tottenham a week ago, Cunha found the net with a corner that sailed over Andre Onana’s outstretched arm in a crowded six-yard box.The points were sealed in the eighth minute of added time when, as United chased an equaliser, Wolves broke and Cunha squared the ball for Hwang Hee-chan to make it 2-0.In recent weeks, Amorim has tried and failed to make his side more secure but Arsenal, Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have also capitalised from United’s frailty at defending balls pumped into their box during a run of five defeats in seven games in all competitions.Amorim has now collected seven points from his six league games in charge. By contrast new Wolves boss Pereira has six from two as he followed up the weekend win at Leicester with a first home victory over United since 2019.If life was not bad enough for United, they will now be without Fernandes for the home game with Newcastle on 30 December and also midfielder Manuel Ugarte, who picked up his fifth booking of the season.While the manner of his goal was bizarre, if anyone was likely to score it, Cunha was that man.The Brazilian had actually tried the corner trick in the first-half but on that occasion, United escaped.
“I was shooting, we train to shoot,” the forward said afterwards. “The second one I had this luck and scored the goal.”Boss Pereira added: “We tried to put this ball swinging inside, but it’s his quality. I think it’s not about work, it’s individual quality. He’s a player in my opinion who can reach high standards in this league.” (Agencies)
