A heavily rotated Man Utd defeat Wolves 1-2 at Molineaux in the final day of the Premier League with the two goals being scored in the first half.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer opted for youth and rotational players for the final league game of the season. In three days Man Utd face Villarreal in the Europa League Final and with top 4 clinched a rotated squad was always likely.
Anthony Elanga had a golden opportunity in the 8th minute after Dan James cut inside and played a ball across the box and it fell nicely to the feet of Elanga, but he sent his shot in the stands.
It was Elanga who got the scoring started in the 13th minute, James found the 19-year-old forward again this time with a left footed cross. Elanga got in front of his defender and powered the header passed the Wolves keeper.
After some good Man Utd pressure and chances early, United sat back and soaked up some Wolves pressure with ease, not much for Dean Henderson to do in the first 38 minutes.
Still not much for Henderson to do when Wolves leveled. Fabio Silva found his Portuguese teammate Nelson Semedo. Silva’s pull back found an open Semedo in the box and he easily slotted the ball past Henderson.
Both sides became reinvigorated after the equalizer and Brandon Williams got behind the Wolves defense but his shot was straight at Rui Patricio and he easily saved the powerful shot.
Donny van de Beek won Man Utd a penalty during first half stoppage time and Juan Mata picked out the corner of the goal. Man Utd go into the locker room up 1-2 and probably deserve the lead after a solid performances from the rotated squad.
Man Utd Clamp Wolves in the Second Half
It was all Wolves to begin the second half, Man Utd took some of the pressure off with a couple of great attacks. Amad slipped James in with an extremely well weighted pass, but James was woeful and tried to be too cute with his finish.
Elanga and Amad were both really impressive on the day. Positionally and creatively, they both played like they were seasoned professionals compared to their youthful realities.
Brandon Williams also had a decent game, he got forward well, and kept the always over lapping left back at bay. Williams did well staying inside and pressing when the ball came out to the full back, but he also had a few misplaced passes.
Man Utd as a team played an assured second half, the possession that they conceded was defended really well as a team. United did well to not allow Wolves many moments inside, they forced Wolves wide and after Traore went down in the first half, Wolves lacked playmakers out wide.
The crosses that Wolves would create from the wide positions were easily snuffed out by Eric Bailly and Axel Tuanzebe. Tuanzebe and Williams rescued Bailly after he let Fabio Silva behind him in the 76th minute, the pairing looked good and could get the start together in three days.
Ole opted not to use his substitutes until the 82nd minute, Shola Shoretire and Hannibal came on for Juan Mata and Amad. It was a debut for Hannibal in the first team, it was only a short cameo for Hannibal, but he looked decent on the ball a couple of times.
William Fish also got a debut, a whole two minutes, but he could be an interesting watch in the summer during pre-season engagements.
Wolves found some joy down the right late in the match, but could not really create any decent chances until Gibbs-White found some space, but his shot was dragged wide. Willy Boly also had a decent long ranged shot.
It was an extremely impressive win for a young Man Utd side against a decent Wolves side at home and on the final game for manager Nuno Espirito Santo.
With a final in three days this was a pretty satisfying win to end the campaign.
