Following Manchester United’s excruciating 4-3 victory over Wolves, Erik ten Hag showered praise on teenage sensation Kobbie Mainoo for his spectacular goal in stoppage time.
Marcus Rashford scored in the first five minutes of his first encounter since last week’s reported antics in Belfast, and the otherwise disappointing Red Devils put up their finest first half display of the season at Molineux.
Soon after Pablo Sarabia converted a controversial penalty, United rallied thanks to a goal from replacement Scott McTominay. The returning star had already assisted Rasmus Hojlund in his second goal.
Unfortunately, United stumbled and was about to lose a crucial victory when Max Kilman scored and Pedro Neto equalized in the dying moments, but Mainoo’s brilliance saved them.
The 18-year-old displayed bravery and talent by battling the Wolves’ defense and then bending the ball home at the deаth to win the game and send United fans into a frenzy.
“After the intense cоnfrоntatiоn, I must admit that I had conflicting emotions,” supervisor Ten Hag stated. Of course, this is a huge victory, and one side is very happy about it.
It was fantastic to watch from the sidelines as a neutral fan, but when you’re the manager and your team dominates for an hour, you should be up 3-0 or 4-0 by halftime. We created plenty of scoring opportunities and let in zero goals.
It can’t happen the way we let goals in; we need to be better at managing it on the field.
We have the correct character, and the spirit in the dressing room is extremely wonderful when you can exhibit this. Then you see the energy of the team and the perseverance, especially in Kobbie Mainoo, and that is great to witness.
Ten Hag took notice of Mainoo the summer of 2022 when he joined United and was a member of the FA Youth Cup-winning squad.
The midfielder would have played more this season if he hadn’t hurt himself in a preseason friendly against Real Madrid in Houston. He has made 13 appearances thus far.
“I sensed him almost immediately,” Ten Hag remarked. I first saw him last fall, and I thought the Under-21s were playing a bit too comfortably; he ought to be a lot more dominant.
You can see he is making tremendous strides, and it’s almost like he’s improving from match to match, since we pushed him hard by his side and in training.
I hope he maintains the composure he displayed when scoring his goal; it’s great to witness.He has strong character, he is determined, and I wish him the best as he continues to make progress.
In addition to Rashford, Ten Hag lauded United’s forward for his outstanding reaction to days of bad press and an internal disciplinary.
“I believe Rashy contributed to the team’s strong performance,” the Dutchman remarked.
“Perhaps you are aware that, based on the recent games, there is a new player emerging on the front line. With help from the back, they pose a threаt to any opponent.”
Wolves’ failure to acquire a striker on deadline day only added insult to ιnjury for opposing manager Gary O’Neil, who suffered a heartbreaking last-gasp loss.
They wаnted to recruit Chelsea striker Armando Broja on loan, but the Premier League’s profit and sustainability regulations rendered it impossible, therefore Broja ended up playing for Fulham instead.
“Financially, we couldn’t afford to do it where it ended up,” O’Neil stated.
But we haven’t taken a 10-point deduction yet, and we’re still pulling together and proving it with our performances. We’ll do our best to maintain that trajectory.