Manchester United held on for a 1-0 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Monday night to get their 2023/24 Premier League campaign off to a winning start.
During the opening minutes, Man United controlled possession, mostly remaining deep in their own half with new signings Andre Onana and Mason Mount both appearing confident on the ball.
These moments of possession did raise some concern, however, with Wolves managing to gain control in United’s final third on numerous occasions.
In the 11th minute, United finally roared to life, with a rapid counter-attack seeing the ball fall in the path of Marcus Rashford, whose one-on-one shot against Jose Sa saw the Wolves keeper forced to make a last-ditch save with his legs.
Moments later, however, United reverted back to a low-intensity playing style, which was disappointing considering that United fans would have expected them to come out swinging in their opening game at Old Trafford against a weaker side on paper.
One the 25-minute mark, the visitors almost scored when Matheus Cunha found Pablo Sarabia on the left wing, whose shot skimmed past the far post.
Seven minutes later, Cunha caught United’s defence sleeping as he slipped past Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw to get on the end of a witty through ball – fortunately for the Red Devils, Cunha’s final shot went wide.
36 minutes in, United looked threatening after a prolonged period of silence.
Rashford’s through ball found Luke Shaw, who sprinted to the edge of the box and thumped a pass into the centre only for Garnacho to be unable to make contact.
With six minutes left of the half, the underdogs looked threatening again as they launched a counter-attack down the left wing.
Fortunately, Aaron Wan-Bissaka launched a heroic sliding tackle to keep United out of danger.
Moments before half-time, Garnacho’s pass was cut out as Wolves launched yet another threatening attack down the right.
This time, it was Mason Mount who won back possession in the box with a surgical slide tackle.
On the stroke of half time, Antony pounced on a loose Wolves’ pass, threading the ball to Rashford who won a corner when his shot was blocked.
Ultimately, it wasn’t to be, with both teams heading into the break goalless following a subdued performance by the Red Devils.
Having already been booked, Martinez also picked up an injury before half time, resulting in Erik ten Hag replacing him with Victor Lindelof.
Straight after kickoff, Wolves bombarded United’s defence yet again, with Onana rushing out of his goal to disrupt the attack and send the ball out for a corner.
In the 48th minute, Onana was called into action yet again, tipping Cunha’s close range shot over the crossbar.
52 minutes in, Antony handed United their closest chance of the game so far, chipping the ball over Sa, only for the shot to be cleared a few centimeters in front of the goalline.
Cunha came close to scoring yet again, unleashing a far-range shot that Onana tipped out of play with a full-stretched save.
In the 67th minute, Mount’s competitive United debut came to a close as he was replaced by Christian Eriksen.
Garnacho, who struggled throughout the game, came off for Jadon Sancho, who impressed during pre-season when he shifted into a false nine role.
With 20 minutes left to play, it seemed as if Wolves would finally find the back of the net when a clearance by Luke Shaw fell to the feet of Pedro Neto, whose shot was ultimately caught by Onana after being aimed directly at the shot-stopper.
After 75 minutes, United found their breakthrough from an unlikely source as Wan-Bissaka lobbed a cross past the Wolves defence to Raphael Varane, who headed in the Red Devils’ first goal of the 2023/24 Premier League season.
With four minutes of normal time to play, a frustrating night for Rashford came to an end as he came off for central midfielder Scott McTominay.
On the 90-minute mark, Fabio Silva came close to leveling the score for the visitors when his shot was blocked just metres out from United’s goalmouth.
Three minutes into seven minutes of stoppage time, Huang took a blistering shot at the bottom left corner of the goal, with Wan-Bissaka managing to deflect the ball inches wide.
Despite a call for a Wolves’ penalty late on, and Onana needing to make a last-ditch save in the 97th minute, United maintained their composure, holding on for a narrow victory that was a little too close for comfort.
1st half team: Onana, Martinez, Mount, Fernandes, Rashford, Casemiro, Varane, Antony, Shaw, Wan-Bissaka, Garnacho
2nd half subs: Lindelof, Eriksen, Sancho, McTominay, Pellistri