Wolves 2-0 Manchester United: Premier League – as it happened | Premier League

That’s all for this blog.

Liverpool v Leicester is here:

And the Wolves v Manchester United match report is here:

Good night.

Pereira on Cunha’s goal direct from a corner: “We tried to put this ball inside [the six-yard box, I think he means]. But it’s his quality. It’s not about work. It’s individual quality. Matheus Cunha in my opinion can reach a high standard in this league.”

And secondly on Cunha setting up Hwang at the end: “This is what I ask them to be. For me, a player who has a chance to score, who [instead] assists, this is the true spirit of the team. I am very happy. I cannot explain what I am feeling inside. It’s something I cannot express what I feel inside. But I’m very, very happy.”

He will remember his first home win with Wolves for a long time? “It was a fantastic experience. And I want to repeat, as soon as possible.

“I agree with you, we have to keep hold of Matheus Cunha in January.”

“I think we have good players with quality,” says the victorious coach, Vitor Pereira. “We were just missing a mental “click” to play. [Before he arrived.]

“With the commitment today, with the supporters with us, it’s something special … The Premier League is very special. I am happy inside. It took a long time to come here.”

He is making it look easy with two wins from two, suggests Manish Bhasin on Amazon Prime Video.

“No, it’s not easy. It’s not easy. The [other] teams they have a lot of quality. When you believe in work. When the communication is simple communication … we know the tasks, everyone knows what they should do on the pitch … and it’s the quality of the players as well.

“Usually my teams have good defensive organisation. Of course, I like to see my defensive line as a clock, a Swiss clock, with good co-ordination.

“But the men in attack and midfield, they must understand when we should press, and when we should wait. These are the two moments we need to understand as a team.”

Have the Wolves players surprised him? “Before I came, before I accepted the job, I studied the team. In my opinion this team has quality. We need the supporters’ energy. Today we showed energy, positive energy, confidence in ourselves. Confidence in the teammate. Confidence in the work we do every day. This is what it is.

“I said to the players, it’s not just about tactical things. It’s about spirit, about energy, the commitment and confidence.

“In our life, if we don’t have confidence in ourselves, it’s impossible to achieve the target.”

It was impossible to ignore the shift in mood, the supporters singing the name of their charismatic Portuguese head coach, parachuted in to solve a myriad issues but chiefly the miserable results and the leaky defence. Determined to immerse himself in the local culture, he and his staff spent Christmas Day enjoying a traditional lunch at a local pub a few miles out of town. Then there is the friction between those who pay their money in the stands and those who spend it in the boardroom. It has been an unhappy picture for a while, the players presumably thinking of an appropriate escape route. The problem for Ruben Amorim is that Vítor Pereira was the manager who triumphed here.

“I feel so happy,” says Matheus Cunha, who scored the first goal direct from a corner and was excellent throughout. “Thank you. We didn’t start the season well, but Vitor has brought a lot of energy … it means a lot, in the stadium, you can see how happy people are.

“He [Pereira] came in with a lot of energy. He said to us: for 18 years he dreamed to be in the Premier League. You can see this, you can see the energy. We are bringing it to the pitch and showing people what we can do.”

Cunha reveals that he was aiming for the goal with the corner that went straight in. It was all planned and the aim of his teammates was to “manage the goalkeeper.” How interesting!

After the Boxing Day shenanigans so far: Manchester United are 14th, Spurs are 11th, Newcastle are fifth, and Nottingham Forest are up to third!

Reaction from Molineux coming upbut Simon Burnton also has Liverpool v Leicester here:

Amorim and his Wolves counterpartPereira, have a cursory handshake on the touchline. Amorim looks gutted, understandably, but then he’s out on the pitch and appears to urge his players to go and thank the fans, despite a third straight defeat.

Good eveningLuke McLaughlin here, ready to bring you reaction after the latest chapter in Manchester United’s perma-crisis.

Peep peep! Wolves jump out of the bottom three after a deserved victory over a moribund Manchester United. I have to dash, but Luke McLaughlin will bring you all the reaction. Goodnight!

Wolves seal it on the break. Cunha and Hwang ran from inside their own half, with only Martinez in the same postcode. He was left in the slipstream of Cunha, who drew Onana and gave the goal to Hwang.

Game over.

90+6 min Cunha, the player of the match by a distance, draws a foul to eat up another 30 seconds. You can see why Arsenal are apparently keen on him.

90+6 min Antony’s deep cross finds Maguire, who tries to loop a header back across Sa from 12 yards. He doesn’t get enough on it and Sa makes a comfortable save.

90+4 min The home fans aren’t happy when Maguire gets away with a perceived handball on the halfway line. No matter, the resulting attack soon peters out.

90+2 min: Wolves substitutions Jean-Ricner Bellegarde and Craig Dawson replace Jorgen Strand Larsen and Nelson Semedo.

90+1 min Nothing comes of the corner. Nada. Sweet bugger all.

90+1 min Blimey, there will be eight minutes of added time. Eriksen’s free-kick from the left is headed behind for a United corner. For the first time all night, Wolves are hanging on.

90 min Doherty fouls Garnacho on the left wing and is booked.

88 min Jose Sa comes a long way from his line to claim Martinez’s cross with authority.

87 min United appeal for a penalty when Maguire (I think) goes over while trying to reach Mazraoui’s cross from the right. Nothing doing, and it’s been cleared by VAR.

86 min In fact they put the wrong number on the board: it’s Rayan Ait-Nouri who is coming off.

86 min: Wolves substitution Rodrigo Gomes replaces Jorgen Strand Larsen.

85 min Eriksen and Casemiro have given United more composure on the ball and they are having their best spell of the second half. This, admittedly, isn’t saying much.

84 min “A goal direct from a corner is certainly not something new,” writes Giovanni Cafagna. “For Italians of my generation (born 1969) the name Massimo Palanca rings multiple bells and whistles. Nicknamed the O’Rey of the Corner Flag, he holds the umbeaten record of 13 goals scored from a corner. He’s also remembered for another record: he had the smallest feet recorded in Italian football, a size 37 equivalent to UK 4.5.”

Crikey, he sounds like a great subject for a Forgotten Story.

82 min Casemiro’s cross is headed onto the roof of the net by Garnacho (I think). A tricky chance, but still one of the best United have created.

81 min Eriksen loses his man on the right with a clever touch and whacks a cross towards Zirkzee in the middle. Jose Sa gets to it first and holds on.

79 min: Double substitution for Man Utd Joshua Zirkzee and Alejandro Garnacho replace Rasmus Hojlund and Amad Diallo.

79 min Cunha stays down after getting a dig in the ribs from Diallo as they jumped for a loose ball.

78 min If it stays like this Man Utd will have lost four of their last five league games, the exception being the late win at the Etihad.

77 min Larsen has another goal ruled out for offside. This time he was yards beyond the defence, and he knew it.

75 min “United’s strategy?” wonders Liz White.

I adore that song, although the Mokran mix is even better IMO, so please don’t associate it with this rabble.