Man Utd Stars Squander Golden Chances as Premier League's Worst Team Wolves Stun Old Trafford

Manchester United granted Wolverhampton Wanderers only their third Premier League point of the campaign in a deeply disappointing evening for Ruben Amorim's squad at Old Trafford to close out 2025.

United had shown promise with enhanced recent displays, particularly securing a hard-fought win over Newcastle on Boxing Day. However, just days afterward they failed to overcome a Wolves team they had demolished 4–1 in the earlier meeting just weeks prior.

Following an early spell of Wolves dominance, Joshua Zirkzee gave United the advantage just past the halfway point of the opening period. However, that lead was neutralized by Ladislav Krejčí before halftime. Both teams continued creating opportunities throughout the second half with both shot-stoppers making crucial contributions, but ultimately neither side could find a winner and the match ended level.

This represented a prime chance for Manchester United to begin generating some positive momentum during what seemed like a favorable sequence of fixtures as 2025 transitions to 2026, but they will view this as two points lost.

Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Wolves (4-2-3-1)

*Ratings Provided by FotMob*

GK: Senne Lammens—6.5: Produced vital stops in both halves that potentially prevented Wolves from securing their first victory of the campaign.

RB: Diogo Dalot—6.9: Performed a crucial role advancing and retreating along the right wing when no natural wide player was positioned ahead of him.

CB: Ayden Heaven—7.2: Enabled the opener by recovering possession high up the field and surging into a threatening position. His second-half substitution was greeted with some disbelieving boos from the supporters.

CB: Lisandro Martínez (c)—7.4: Registered the highest pass completion rate of any player on the field.

LB: Luke Shaw—7.2: Playing as a traditional left-back allowed him greater freedom to advance in attacking phases, which helped create better spacing for Dorgu in front of him.

CM: Casemiro—7.5: A dominant presence in midfield who consistently sought forward passing options.

CM: Manuel Ugarte—6.7: Still failing to impose himself on matches. Succeeded in only three of nine ground and aerial challenges.

RM: Joshua Zirkzee—7.4: Replacing Mason Mount. Was anticipated to function centrally in his favored attacking midfielder position, but appeared uncomfortable on the wing, especially defensively. His breakthrough came when he moved into central areas. Unclear why he was withdrawn at halftime.

AM: Matheus Cunha—6.0: This fixture seemed perfect for him to control proceedings against his previous team. However, he rarely received the ball in dangerous positions—managing just two touches inside the Wolves penalty area.

LM: Patrick Dorgu—7.0: Switched to the left wing despite his impressive showing on the right versus Newcastle. Perhaps could have done more to track Krejčí during Wolves' equalizer. Marginally offside when he netted a potential winner late on.

ST: Benjamin Šeško—7.3: Worked tirelessly to create scoring opportunities for himself, but lacked the finishing touch. Had he converted a few of those chances, the outcome could have been vastly different.

Subs not used: Altay Bayındır (GK), Tyler Fredricsson, Tyrell Malacia, Tyler Fletcher, Chido Obi, Shea Lacey.

Wolves (3-4-2-1)

Starting XI: José Sá; Matt Docherty (c), Yerson Mosquera, Ladislav Krejčí; Jackson Tchatchoua, Jhon Arias, João Gomes, Hugo Bueno; Mateus Mané, Hwang Hee-chan; Tolu Arokodare.

Subs used: Jørgen Strand Larsen, Fer López, David Møller Wolfe.

Player of the Match: Yerson Mosquera (Wolves)

Man Utd Player of the Match: Casemiro

Man Utd 1–1 Wolves—How It Developed at Old Trafford

Despite being on course to become the poorest team in Premier League history by season's end, Wolves actually began quite positively, showing no signs of intimidation and penetrating deep into United's half with reasonable skill and confidence.

The home side managed to disrupt that early momentum when Benjamin Šeško created an opportunity from virtually nothing after 15 minutes, pursuing a pass heading out of bounds, cutting into the box and unleashing a shot across goal that narrowly missed the far corner by inches.

A shortage of quality and sharpness saw Wolves fail to capitalize on their promising opening, allowing United to take the lead instead. There was some luck involved in Zirkzee's strike from outside the area, the ball fortunately bouncing back to him after a poor first touch, with the Dutchman's effort then deceiving Wolves keeper José Sá via a helpful deflection. However, young center-back Ayden Heaven deserves immense praise for his proactive defending and subsequent forward run with possession.

The goal settled United and momentarily deflated Wolves. The next opportunity fell to Šeško, a promising header that was too central to trouble Sá significantly, while Patrick Dorgu came close with a low strike from the left that was deflected wide. Šeško then headed against the woodwork from the resulting corner.

But the fragile nature of a 1–0 advantage was revealed near the end of the first half. United had already been cautioned when overlapping left-back Hugo Bueno was thwarted by an excellent save from Senne Lammens, and a corner shortly after allowed Wolves to level. The initial cross was met by Zirkzee but not cleared properly, and Krejčí was positioned to steer a firm header back across goal and into the net.

Overall, 1–1 was a reasonable halftime score. It would remain so at the final whistle, too.

When play resumed, another Šeško header lacked conviction and was easily collected by Sá, while Diogo Dalot missed the target with his own header from a corner. Sá then had to prevent a disastrous own goal when defender Yerson Mosquera misjudged a back-pass to his keeper, who rushed back to clear it just in time.

Wolves nearly took the lead just after the hour mark, with Lammens doing well to deflect an opportunistic half-volley from Krejčí, then making an even better save to push the loose ball away from Mosquera's path as the Colombian approached for the rebound.

As chants of 'attack, attack, attack' echoed from Old Trafford's terraces, the home team sought a route to a second goal. Sá struggled with Matheus Cunha's corner delivery, swinging at the ball multiple times before finally managing to punch it away.

Wolves seemed encouraged when Ruben Amorim looked to his substitutes for fresh energy, introducing 20-year-old Leny Yoro, the most seasoned outfield option available, and 17-year-old debutant Bendito Mantato. Shortly afterward, Jhon Arias saw a threatening 20-yard effort deflected narrowly wide by Dalot's perfectly-timed sliding intervention.

In the closing stages, Sá made a routine save from another Šeško header, while Dorgu later found the net after Sá had parried Šeško's initial attempt, only to see the offside flag raised. A VAR review confirmed the original decision to rule it out was correct.

Man Utd vs. Wolves Half-Time Stats

Man Utd vs. Wolves Full Time Stats