Man Utd Player Ratings vs. Wolves: Wasteful Red Devils Frustrated by Premier League’s Bottom Club

A late offside flag stopped Patrick Dorgu being Man Utd’s matchwinner for the second game running.

Wolves fought Man Utd every bit of the way. / Molly Darlington/Copa/Getty Images

Manchester United afforded Wolverhampton Wanderers just their third Premier League point of the season in an enormously frustrating night for Ruben Amorim’s team at Old Trafford to end 2025.

United had impressed with improved recent performances, notably grinding out a victory against Newcastle on Boxing Day. But just days later they couldn’t put away a Wolves side they had thrashed 4–1 in the reverse fixture a matter of weeks ago.

After riding an initial wave of Wolves pressure, Joshua Zirkzee handed United the lead just over midway through the first half. But that advantage was cancelled out by Ladislav Krejčí before the interval. Both sides continued to have chances throughout the second period and both goalkeepers played their parts, but there was ultimately nothing to split them and the points were shared.

This was a golden opportunity for Manchester United to start building some momentum in what appeared to be a favourable run of fixtures as 2025 becomes 2026, but will see it as two points dropped.

FREE NEWSLETTER. New SI FC Newsletter Global Embed. Sign Up to Get Informed With SI FC. dark

---

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

Benjamin Šeško had multiple attempts on goal. / Zohaib Alam/MUFC/Manchester United/Getty Images

*Ratings Provided by FotMob*

GK: Senne Lammens—6.5: Made important saves in either half that potentially stopped Wolves from claiming a first win of the season.

RB: Diogo Dalot—6.9: Did an important job getting up and down the right flank when there was no natural winger in front of him.

CB: Ayden Heaven—7.2: Made the breakthrough possible by winning the ball back high up the pitch and driving into a dangerous area. His withdrawal in the second half was met by a few incredulous jeers from the crowd.

CB: Lisandro Martínez (c)—7.4: Completed the most passes of anyone on the pitch.

LB: Luke Shaw—7.2: Operating as a conventional left back freed him up to get forward more often in open play, which helped create better space for Dorgu ahead of him.

CM: Casemiro—7.5: A force in the middle of the pitch who was often looking to play forwards.

CM: Manuel Ugarte—6.7: Still not stamping his authority on games. Won only three of nine duels on the ground and in the air.

RM: Joshua Zirkzee—7.4: In for Mason Mount. Was expected to operate centrally, his preferred No. 10 role, but never really looked comfortable on the flank, particularly out of possession. It was when he drifted into the middle that he broke the deadlock. Not clear why he came off after 45 minutes.

AM: Matheus Cunha—6.0: This game was made for him to dictate against his former club. Yet he didn’t see enough of the ball in dangerous areas—just two touches in the Wolves box.

LM: Patrick Dorgu—7.0: Swapped over to the left flank, despite impressing on the right against Newcastle. Probably could have done more to get to Krejčí when Wolves equalised. Marginally offside when he scored a would-be winner at the death.

ST: Benjamin Šeško—7.3: Worked hard to get himself into position to have chances, but needed to be more clinical. Had he taken just a couple of them, this could have been a very different game.

Substitute	Rating (Out of 10)
Jack Fletcher (46’ for Zirkzee)	6.3
Leny Yoro (75’ for Heaven)	6.5
Bendito Mantato (75’ for Ugarte)	6.1

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 Unfolded at Old Trafford

Joshua Zirkzee put Man Utd ahead. / Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

Despite tracking to become the worst team in Premier League history come the end of the season, Wolves actually started relatively brightly, far from overawed and taking the ball deep into United territory with relative competence and ease.

The hosts managed to break up that early pressure when Benjamin Šeško made a chance out of pretty much nothing 15 minutes in, chasing down a pass destined to go out of play, cutting into the penalty area and firing a shot across goal that missed the far bottom corner by mere inches.

A lack of quality and cutting edge saw Wolves fail to capitalise on a strong start, allowing United to get in front instead. There was fortune about Zirkzee’s strike from the edge of the box, the ball kindly rebounding to him after a wayward first touch and then the Dutchman’s shot wrongfooting Wolves goalkeeper José Sá courtesy of a helpful deflection. But young centre back Ayden Heaven deserves huge credit for the way he defended on the front foot and then drove forward with the ball.

The goal calmed United and temporarily deflated Wolves. The next chance fell to Šeško, a promising header that was too close to Sá to cause major concern, while Patrick Dorgu went close with a low drive from the left that was deflected wide. Šeško headed against the post from the resultant corner.

But the delicate nature of a 1–0 lead was exposed towards the end of the first half. United had already been warned when overlapping left back Hugo Bueno was denied by a good save from Senne Lammens, and a corner not long after saw Wolves draw level. The initial delivery was met by Zirkzee but not cleared and Krejčí was there to guide a firm header back across goal and into the net.

On balance, 1–1 was a fair half-time scoreline. It would be at the end, too.

Once the game resumed, another Šeško header lacked power and was comfortably gathered by Sá, while Diogo Dalot missed the target with a header of his own at a corner. Sá then had to prevent a calamitous own goal when defender Yerson Mosquera misjudged a header back to his goalkeeper, who raced back to scoop it away just in the nick of time.

Wolves nearly went ahead just over an hour in, with Lammens doing well to parry an opportunistic half volley from Krejčí, and then doing even better to push the loose ball out of Mosquera’s path as the Colombian was closing in on the rebound.

Senne Lammens potentially prevented a shock defeat. / Simon Stacpoole/Offside/Getty Images

As cries of ‘attack, attack, attack’ rained down from Old Trafford’s stands, the hosts searched for a way to a second goal. Sá had trouble with Matheus Cunha’s corner, swiping at the ball three times before he managed to eventually punch it clear.

Wolves appeared emboldened when Ruben Amorim turned to his bench for fresh legs and brought on 20-year-old Leny Yoro, the most experienced outfield player available, and 17-year-old debutant Bendito Mantato. Moments later, Jhon Arias saw a dangerous shot from 20 yards deflected marginally wide by Dalot’s perfectly-timed sliding block.

Into the final stages, Sá made a simple save from another Šeško header, while Dorgu later had the ball in the net after Sá had parried Šeško’s initial effort, only to see an offside flag raised. A VAR check confirmed that original decision to disallow it was the right one.

---

Man Utd vs. Wolves Half-Time Stats

Statistic	Man Utd	Wolves
Possession	53%	47%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.35	0.39
Total Shots	5	6
Shots on Target	2	3
Big Chances	1	0
Pass Accuracy	91%	89%
Fouls	4	7
Corners	3	1

---

Man Utd vs. Wolves Full Time Stats

Statistic	Man Utd	Wolves
Possession	57%	43%
Expected Goals (xG)	0.81	1.02
Total Shots	15	11
Shots on Target	6	4
Big Chances	2	1
Pass Accuracy	89%	84%
Fouls	9	12
Corners	8	4

---

READ THE LATEST MAN UTD NEWS, TRANSFER RUMORS AND MORE

feed