Josè Mourinho had been waxing lyrical about Wolves in the buildup to this game, and rightfully so.
It must be incredibly gratifying for a manager to see one of his old players doing such fine work in the top flight.
But United’s infamously cantankerous manager was a little misguided in his post-match comments, in which he said Wolves played the match as if it were a World Cup final.
Anyone who has been watching Nuno and his team’s early season exploits will know that they approach every game in exactly the same way, regardless of the opposition.
This trip to Old Trafford was no different, with Wolves in the ascendancy from the get-go.
David de Gea foiled our attempts at an opener on multiple occasions, as the raucous away support roared the team on with little opposition from a muted home end.
Typically, United took the lead not long after as Fred plundered his first goal for the Red Devils thanks to a cute tee-up from Paul Pogba.
My initial view was that Rui Patricio could have kept the Brazilian’s effort out, but replays show it was expertly steered beyond the reach of our Portuguese keeper.
The goal did little to change the tone of the game, with United’s dominance of the ball failing to prevent our threat on the counter.
Joao Moutinho ensured we got the equaliser our efforts deserved, curling a sumptuous strike beyond de Gea after enterprising work from an impressive Helder Costa.
How we managed to get a player of Moutinho’s obvious quality for as little as £5m is beyond me, but he’s already looking like one of the buys of the season. He simply oozes class in everything he does, and complements Reuben Neves brilliantly.
The same could be said of Jonny Otto, who once again operated solidly down the left hand side. He and Matt Doherty are absolutely key to how this team operates, and were unrelenting in their efforts to get up and down the flanks.
Costa and Diogo Jota are also deserving of praise for their performances, with both looking closer to their vintage than they previously had this season. The former was a particular menace right up until his withdrawal, giving a performance reminiscent of his stand-out display at Anfield two seasons ago.
Pandemonium is the best way to describe the away end after the goal, with the travelling support drowning out Old Trafford completely. One can only imagine the scenes if Adama Traore had managed to net one of the two chances he spurned during another enterprising cameo.
The noise continued despite a winner evading us though, with the familiar refrain of ‘Nuno had a dream’ ringing true from the stadium to central Manchester.
Continue playing this way and we’ll have to begin changing the lyrics to our favourite ditty, however. Because at this rate, Wolves aren’t on their way back to the glory days.
They are back.
Media
Great footage of Moutinho's goal yesterday#WWFC
(@LewisWorldof) pic.twitter.com/H3RzgxNROV
— ????? (@wwfcscott) September 23, 2018