18-year old kid saves United in the 97th minute

He was on a drinking spree for 12 hours in Belfast. He called in sick the other day but his nightlife was revealed. He was crucified by the British press, his teammates were angry with him and former Manchester United captain Roy Keane said that his behaviour is “that of an idiot“. Coach Erik ten Hag said that the issue will be delt with internally, and considering his history of dealing in such situation, everybody expected that Marcus Rashford will be fined and will spend some time on the bench. And yet, he was in the starting lineup for Manchester United against Wolverhampton and scored after only three minutes of the game, helping his teammates to a thrilling 4-3 victory in the Premier League. But in the end, he was not the main protagonist of the game. It was in fact young 18-year old Kobbie Mainoo, whose 97th minute stunner gave United the victory.

The Red Devils played the best first half in the whole season, scored two quick goals and were denied three more due to offsides, and then allowed the Wolves to spectacularly come back and level the game 3-3 in the 95th minute. And then young Mainoo stepped in, took the ball from 25 meters away, managed to find some space and then shot the ball to the bottom left corner for the win. Sir Alex Ferguson came to Wolverhampton to watch the match and was smiling after this fantastic goal, but in reality, United allowed the guests to come back after 3-1, Antony‘s wasteful movements led to the third goal and Ten Hag‘s defensive substitutions at the end nearly costed United.

United could have spared their fans this much drama, on two occasions they had a two-goal advantage, but they failed to bring the match to a peaceful end. And, it seemed that the visiting team would "walk" through the West Midlands, since Marcus Rashford started the rival in the opening phase of the match, and Rasmus Hojlund doubled the Red Devils' lead in the middle of the first half. Interestingly, a little over a year ago, also before visiting Wolverhampton, Rashford fell asleep and was late for training, so Ten Hag decided to sanction him by assigning him the reserve status. Then he got a chance at halftime, and half an hour later he solved the question of the winner with the only goal of the match. Tonight, he needed even less time to answer the critics, only five minutes. United could have solved the question of the winner before the break, but goals in stoppage time by Hojlund and Casemiro were disallowed for offside, and the dubious penalty that Pablo Sarabia materialized in the middle of the second half restored the hope of the host to avoid defeat.

However, it was short-lived, since just four minutes later reserve player Scott McTominay gave the visitors a plus two. It seemed that United was taking big steps towards a new victory, and then - a flood at the end. Max Kilman reduced the deficit in the 85th minute, only for Pedro Neto to counterattack ten minutes later with a clever shot to cause an eruption at the Molineaux Stadium. Although Ten Hag decided to defend the advantage goal and the match ended with five defenders, United attacked a corner in the opponent's penalty area with nine players. Antony lost the ball in the opponent's half, and Neto cruelly punished his rival in the following counter attack. And while Wolves’ fans celebrating in the 95th minute, Manoo stopped the celebrations by netting a winner in the 97th minute.

PREMIER LEAGUE - MATCHDAY 22

Tuesday

Nott. Forest - Arsenal 1-2 (0-0)

/Awoniyi 89 - Jesus , Saka /

Fulham - Everton 0-0

Luton - Brighton 4-0 (3-0)

/Adebayo 1, 42, 56, Ogbene 3/

Crystal Palace - Sheffield Utd 3-2 (2-2)

/Eze 17, 27, Olise 67 - Diaz 1, McAtee 20/

Aston Villa - Newcastle 1-3 (0-2)

/Watkins 71 - Schar 32, 36, Moreno 52 og/

Wednesday

Tottenham - Brentford 3-2 (0-1)

/Udogie 48, Johnson 49, Richarlison 56 - Maupay 15, Toney 67/

Manchester City - Burnley 3-1 (2-0)

/Alvarez 16,22, Rodri 46 - Al-Dakhil 90+3/

Liverpool - Chelsea 4-1 (2-0)

/Jota 23, Bradley 39, Szoboszlai 65, Diaz 78 - Nkunku 71/

Thursday

West Ham - Bournemouth 1-1 (0-1)

/Solanke 3, Ward-Prowse (p) 61/

Wolverhampton - Manchester United 3-4 (0-2)

/Sarabia (p) 71, Kilman 85, Neto 95 - Rashford 5, Hojlund 22, McTominay 75, Mainoo 97/