14 touches, 9 duels lost – The reason Manchester United lost vs Wolves was before Bruno Fernandes’ red card

The real reason Manchester United fell to a 2-0 defeat against Wolverhampton Wanderers happened before the red card Bruno Fernandes received in the second half.

Manchester United endured a third straight defeat as Rúben Amorim’s side were beaten 2-0 by Wolverhampton Wanderers in a tense Boxing Day encounter.

United started brightly, creating early chances through Noussair Mazraoui and Amad Diallo, but Wolves quickly grew into the game, asserting dominance and control for much of the first half. Despite both teams pressing, the score remained level at 0-0 as the teams headed into the break.

The game shifted dramatically just minutes into the second half when Bruno Fernandes was shown a second yellow card, leaving United to play the remainder of the match with ten men.

Wolves capitalised soon after, as Matheus Cunha scored directly from a corner kick, exposing United’s persistent struggles with set-piece defending.

Amorim reacted with a flurry of substitutions to inject energy into the side, but Wolves stayed disciplined, thwarting every attempt at an equaliser. United’s frustrations peaked late on when Harry Maguire appeared to be fouled in the penalty area, but VAR ruled out any hopes of a spot-kick.

With United chasing the game, Wolves struck again in stoppage time as Hwang Hee-chan sealed the win, leaving Amorim and his players to reflect on another disappointing performance.

Fernandes’ red card is not the real reason for United’s loss

With United now sitting 14th in the Premier League table and uncomfortably close to the relegation spots, many are laying the blame for United’s loss against Wolves on the red card Fernandes received.

Although it completely changed the game’s dynamic, as Harry Maguire pointed out in a post-match interview, Wolves’ two goals did not come as a consequence of this red card.

Instead, the reason United lost was due to the complete disconnect between United’s creative outlets and their front line.

Just like against Bournemouth, United’s creative players, which in this case were the wing-backs Diogo Dalot and Noussair Mazraoui, as well as Kobbie Mainoo in midfield, failed to supply United with chances to score.

There were a few early efforts in the first half, which Mazraoui and Mainoo helped create. Still, an attacking line needs more than just two chances in a game to gain proper control of a fixture, and this was a problem that was evident well before Fernandes was sent off.

It’s hard to blame Højlund for the lack of goals

Rasmus Højlund had just 14 touches in his 79 minutes and lost nine of his 12 duels, but it’s hard to blame him for either of these statistics because he was not being given chances to score.

Strikers tend to have fewer touches than other players on the field, but 14 touches in 79 minutes show that he is simply not being gifted the ball as a forward would expect.

With respect to his loss of duels, when he did have the ball, he was being granted possession in uncomfortable or unorthodox positions, and while a veteran striker may have the experience to deal with his, the 21-year-old is yet to do so.

United’s creative players must do much more to provide Højlund with the opportunities to finish. His 23 goals for United so far prove he knows how to put the ball in the back of the net, but rarely does he have the chance to.

United’s entire starting midfield and wing-backs, including Fernandes and Amad, created five chances across the tie. This is the reason they lost.

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