Bruno Fernandes’ red card costs Man United in loss to Wolves
Bruno Fernandes was sent off as Manchester United endured a 2-0 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on Thursday evening at the Molineux Stadium.
Level at the break, the encounter shifted soon after the restart when Fernandes was red-carded for a second bookable offense on his Portuguese teammate Nelson Semedo.
This was the third time the Manchester United captain has been sent off this season, having previously been given marching orders against Tottenham Hotspur and FC Porto.
Wolves, determined to capitalise on their numerical advantage, broke the deadlock just before the hour mark when Brazilian forward Matheus Cunha found the back of the net directly from a corner set-piece.
In their desperation to level the score by sending bodies forward, United paid heavily deep into injury time when Cunha unselfishly set up his striking counterpart Hwang Hee-chan, who finished off a swift counter-attack.
The result means Ruben Amorim’s men have lost four of their last five Premier League outings, further dropping to 14th on the table.
After the game, Amorim argued his side needs time to improve.
“The idea needs time,” said the Man United boss.
“I said it before to you guys, this will be a tough moment and we are far from at the end of this moment. We have to continue and focus on the next thing.
“They need time to train, they are changing completely. The way of playing is really hard on them, it’s really hard on the staff also to pass all the information.
“When you don’t have results it’s even harder for them to believe. We have to continue.”
Meanwhile, Wolves clawed their way out of the danger zone with a second consecutive win under newly appointed head coach Vitor Pereira, who has won as many games as Gary O’Neil did before getting sacked.
“I’m very happy to make the fans happy and to see the true spirit of this team,” said Pereira.
“A man with confidence can do many good things. If you lack self-confidence, it becomes a problem because you cannot express the power within you.
“At this moment, I believe the team is happy. The energy is positive.
“In tactical situations, we have made some progress. I think the team demonstrated that. The players have quality.”
Manchester United have a tough assignment against Newcastle on Monday night, where online bookmakers have them as slight outsiders at $2.71 to defeat Eddie Howe’s team ($2.46) in the EPL.
Meanwhile, Pereira will be hoping to extend his perfect start against Tottenham, who are $2.54 favourites with the top soccer betting sites for their clash with Wolves ($2.64) in London.
