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Manchester United hosted Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford in the FA Cup third-round replay as the first match at the Molineux ended in a 0-0 draw. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer named his starting XI with one eye on the Liverpool game this Sunday, while Wolves started with a stromg team.
The match started with Manchester United having more of the ball and quite expectedly, Wolves were set-up to counter-attack, something that they are known to do really well. Both teams had opportunities to open the scoring in the first period and the visitors had a goal disallowed for handball by the VAR.
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Daniel James missed two one-on-one opportunities as he failed to beat John Ruddy, which kept the scoreline 0-0 as we headed into the break. In the second half, the Red Devils were on top of Wolves from the start but they were struggling to break the visitors down, and it needed a touch of class from Juan Mata to break the deadlock and give United a deserved lead.
After that, it was all about keeping a clean sheet and the hosts did exactly that. It was a good performance by the Red Devils, which was somewhat tarnished by an injury to Marcus Rashford, who came on in the second half. Nevertheless, Manchester United progressed to the FA Cup fourth round and here, we are going to take a look at the hits and flops from the game.
#5 Hit - Anthony Martial
Manchester United lined up in a 4-4-2 formation against Wolves, with Juan Mata on the right, Daniel James on the left and Anthony Martial up top with Mason Greenwood. It was the Frenchman who was causing the most problems to the Wolves backline because he was constantly dropping off, which allowed the likes of James and Greenwood to make runs in behind the visitors' defense.
On the day, Martial racked up four key passes, along with three shots on goal, with one of them on being on target. He assisted United's winner, after shrugging off a Wolves defender and putting it on a plate for Mata. The 24-year-old was bringing his teammates into play at every opportunity and one can say that it was a mature performance from the Frenchman.
#4 Flop - Conor Coady
Wolves skipper Conor Coady had a night to forget at Old Trafford as he failed to have any impact on the proceedings. Defensively, he was being found out positionally and he was the one who played Juan Mata onside for Manchester United's opener.
A mere look at his stats tells the whole story. Coady won just one tackle on the day, along with one interception and one aerial duel. Furthermore, the Englishman often acts as a deep-lying playmaker for Wolves because of his ability to play some wonderful diagonal balls but that was something he didn't do on Wednesday night.
He was also guilty of not dealing with Anthony Martial as the Frenchman had the Wolves center-back on his toes. All in all, it wasn't a great display from Coady, who is usually very reliable.
#3 Hit - Brandon Williams
Another start, another top-notch performance from young Brandon Williams, who is slowly but surely sealing his place in the Manchester United starting XI. The 18-year-old was up against two very tricky wingers in Pedro Neto and Adama Traore, and it's safe to say that the Englishman didn't give an inch to both Wolves attackers.
Defensively, Williams made two interceptions, three clearances, and won three aerial duels. Not only that, he was very efficient in attacking situations as he provided one key pass and had a passing accuracy of 86%.
Luke Shaw is currently injured and he will find it very difficult to displace Williams from the left-back spot now. The youngster will most definitely start at Anfield against Liverpool on Sunday.
#2 Flop - Jonny Otto
Starting as a left wing-back, Jonny Otto was by far Wolves' worst player on the day. He was literally anonymous on the day, which can be confirmed by the fact that he had only 36 touches; to put that into context, John Ruddy, the Wolves goalkeeper had more touches (38) than him.
He made one interception, one tackle and played one key pass, but apart from that, he provided nothing. The Spaniard just didn't bust his gut to attack Manchester United and that lack of effort was evident throughout the game. It was as if he was strolling around the pitch, with no intention of accomplishing anything.
Otto's bad performance was one of the biggest reasons why Aaron Wan-Bissaka was largely untroubled.
#1 Hit - Juan Mata
In the second half, Manchester United had the majority of the ball but Wolves were defending in a good shape and were very deep. Hence, it was pretty clear that some kind of individual brilliance was needed to break the deadlock.
Up stepped Juan Mata, who ran through on goal and beautifully chipped it over the goalkeeper to put United in front and into the fourth round of the FA Cup.
It is not only his goal that earned him the plaudits; the Spaniard was quite clearly United's best player in the first half and should have had an assist as he played a wonderfully weighted pass for Daniel James, who fluffed his one-on-one opportunity against Ruddy. The 34-year-old also had his effort on goal saved well by the Wolves goalkeeper.
Mata is clearly not in his prime and yet, the quality he possesses in his left-foot is quite evident. He has been brilliant in the last couple of games and it wouldn't come as a surprise if the Spaniard starts on Sunday against Premier League leaders Liverpool.
Also Read: Manchester United 1-0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: 3 Talking Points | FA Cup 2019-2020
