Juan Mata's goal settled Man Utd's FA Cup replay with Wolves, but an injury to Marcus Rashford soured their 1-0 win at Old Trafford.
Wolves had an early goal ruled out by VAR for handball and United, in front of a crowd of just 67,000, took advantage with Mata making the difference with a delightful second half chip.
The Spaniard's strike was enough for United to book a fourth round tie with Tranmere or Watford after their third-round replay was postponed on Tuesday because of a waterlogged pitch.
Wolves were almost gifted the lead after 10 minutes when a poor pass from Fred bounced off Nemanja Matic and Raul Jimenez won a challenge with Harry Maguire.
👍 Not been a great game but that's a great finish from Juan Mata to put Man Utd ahead...#MUNWOL #MUFCpic.twitter.com/H0WBqK9Cbu
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) January 15, 2020
But the ball hit Jimenez on the hand before it reached Pedro Neto who stroked it into the net. Following a VAR review referee Kevin Friend ruled out the goal.
Mata and Daniel James both went close to breaking the deadlock and Matt Doherty hit the woodwork as the first half ended goalless at Old Trafford.
Mata saw Ruddy keep out his effort before Doherty's header came back off the post. James had the best chance but hit his shot straight at Ruddy following a run into the area.
It was United who broke the deadlock through Mata with 67 minutes on the clock.
Never want to feel like I’ve let my teammates, the club and most importantly the fans down so did my very best to carry on tonight and was gutted to come off.
— Marcus Rashford (@MarcusRashford) January 15, 2020
Top work from the lads to get into the next round 👊🏿 pic.twitter.com/ZLpxiqhtq3
Anthony Martial's neat turn and pass sent Mata through the middle of the Wolves defence and he kept his composure to chip the ball wide of Ruddy.
Rashford made a 15-minute appearance as a substitute for James but had to be replaced by Jesse Lingard after picking up an injury.
Mata told BT Sport: "They are a difficult team, they play in a certain way and they do it very well. They are very organised and they are hard to break down.
"It is a good result for us, we have had a good couple of days and now we have a big one coming (Liverpool on Sunday) so hopefully we can carry on."
📺 YET AGAIN Wolves denied by VAR
— Sporting Life Football (@SportingLifeFC) January 15, 2020
🐺 This time the dreaded handball rule goes against them at Old Trafford..#FACup #MUNWOL #wwfcpic.twitter.com/HHat6CEpAR
Manchester United 1-0 Wolves Opta stats
- Manchester United have won each of their last six home matches in the FA Cup without conceding a single goal in this run.
- Wolves have been eliminated at the third round stage or earlier in seven of their last nine FA Cup campaigns, this after having made it to at least the fourth round in each of their nine seasons in a row before this.
- Man Utd have won nine of their last 10 home matches against Wolves in all competitions (D1), keeping six clean sheets in those games.
- Juan Mata has been directly involved in three goals in his last two games for Man Utd (one goal, two assists), as many as he was in his first 20 appearances of the 2019-20 season in all competitions before this.
- Since his FA Cup debut in January 2016, Man Utd forward Anthony Martial has eight assists in the competition; only Marcus Maddison (11) has more in this time.
- Marcus Rashford was the first Manchester United player to both come on as a substitute before then being substituted himself in the same FA Cup match since Alan Smith against Liverpool in February 2006.
