Wolves 0, Manchester United 1
Marcus Rashford came off the bench to score the winner for Manchester United at Wolves after he was punished for oversleeping.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe result meant that United leapfrogged over Tottenham to end the year in fourth place in the Premier League table – a coveted Champions League spot.
Rashford had been dropped by Reds boss Erik Ten Hag for disciplinary reasons – which were later confirmed by the player himself to be because he was late for a team meeting due to oversleeping.
“It’s an internal affair between us.” said Ten Hag of Rashford’s response to being disciplined.
“He had the right attitude when he came in, and that’s how it has to be.”
The Dutchman did protect his player by not revealing specifics of the punishment, which was also applied to Garnacho during the pre-season tour, but the England forward was contrite in admitting for himself the reason why he was benched.
Rashford conceded his mistake but promised to make up for it, adding: “I have no complaints. I overslept, and I want to draw a line underneath it and move on to the next game.”
Rashford’s replacement on the left flank – Alejandro Garnacho – almost scored early in a poor first half but was thwarted by the outstretched boot of Jose Sa.
But Rashford, who replaced the Argentine youngster at the break, boosted the misfiring Reds and hit what turned out out be the winner 14 minutes from time after exchanging passes with Bruno Fernandes and powering past a trio of defenders from the left flank.
It was Rashford’s 11th goal of the season and Rashford thought he had his 12th after scoring a second goal which was subsequently chalked off by VAR for handball on the way into the net.
David De Gea had already saved a free kick from Ruben Neves but helped secure the points with a smart save at close range from Raul Jimenez’ injury time header with Harry Maguire completing the clearance.