April 3 (UPI) — Manchester United lost its early lead before surrendering an own goal for a loss to Wolves in the Premier League.
The Red Devils suffered the 2-1 setback Tuesday at Molineux Stadium in Wolverhampton, England. United sits in fifth place in the Premier League standings.
“We created our own downfall,” United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told reporters. “Very good performance, until they scored a second goal. Apart from 10 minutes after they scored the one-each goal, we seemed flustered.
United got out to a hot start, getting first blood from Scott McTominay in the 13th minute. Fred received the ball at the top of the Wolves box during that sequence. He tapped a short pass to McTominay, who received the ball and did a smooth turn toward the goal. McTominay then ripped a shot toward the far post, beating Wolves keeper Rui Patricio.
But Wolves answered back quickly, equalizing 12 minutes later on a Diogo Jota score. Fellow forward Raul Jimenez received a ball just outside the United box during that sequence. He took one touch before using the outside of his right foot to thread a pass into the box for Jota. The striker took a touch to settle the feed, before blasting a shot past Red Devils keeper David de Gea.
The score stayed tight through the halftime whistle and a bulk of the second half before a Red Devils mistake resulted in the game-winning goal. United went down to 10 men after an Ashley Young red card in the 57th minute. Wolves got the decisive score 20 minutes later.
Joao Moutinho crossed ball into the box during the sequence and Jimenez won the feed with a header. Jimenez sent the ball into a crowd in front of the United net, where Leander Dendoncker tried to score. United defender Chris Smalling came sliding in to keep the ball away from Dendoncker, but instead tapped the ball into his own net.
“It’s only one more game in the Premier League,” Jota said, according to the Wolves website. “We know Manchester United is a big team, so it’s very hard to get the three points, but I don’t think we are obsessed by that — we always want to just play game-by-game.”
“Tonight our performance was good. It’s hard against a team like Manchester United when they start like that — it requires a lot to come back, but our performance was good and it’s a good boost for Sunday.”
The Red Devils host FC Barcelona in the Champions League quarterfinals at 3 p.m. April 10 at Old Trafford in Manchester, England.
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