Manchester United beaten by Wolves after Young sent off with two yellows

Updated: May 17, 2023, 05:24 am

A pair of Ashley Young yellow cards helped condemn Manchester United to a 2-1 defeat against Wolverhampton on Tuesday night at Molineux.

Romelu Lukaku replaced the ill Marcus Rashford in the United XI and the Belgian almost had his team in front inside of five minutes, heading right at Rui Patricio from close range after Diogo Dalot had curled in a lovely cross from the right flank.

Scott McTominay would have the visitors in front before the quarter-hour, with a neat turn and finish from 20 yards away that was just out of the reach of Patricio.

Jesse Lingard should have made it 2-0 soon after, but Patricio tipped his tame header from a nice Lukaku ball into the area away from goal.

Wolves grew into the game and were on level terms by the 25th minute when a bad giveaway from Fred allowed the hosts to score, Diogo Jota beating David De Gea from an incisive Raul Jimenez through ball.

James Baylis - AMA/Getty Images

Lukaku had a chance to put United back in the lead just before half-time, but he flashed his shot wide of goal and the teams went to the dressing room locked in a 1-1 draw.

The match took a major turn in a matter of minutes in the second half when Young was shown two yellow cards moments apart by referee Mike Dean and was sent off leaving United to finish the match with 10 men.

Goalscorer Jalot had a penalty shout waved off by Dean when he collided with Victor Lindelof in the United penalty area, only to be replaced by Ivan Cavaleiro moments later.

Wolves then took the lead in the 77th minute when a Jimenez header trickled into the net off the hand of United defender Chris Smalling to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

It's the first time Wolves have won consecutive games against Manchester United in all competitions since 1980 and leaves Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team in fifth place and out of the Champions League places.

Wolves impressive return to the Premier League continues as they solidified their hold on seventh place with a haul of 47 points through 32 matches.