Manchester United swept aside bottom-placed Wolves with a commanding 4–1 victory at Molineux, climbing to sixth in the Premier League and tightening their grip on a European chase that still feels unpredictable but increasingly credible. While Wolves briefly restored parity before half-time, they were ultimately overwhelmed by a United side sharper, faster and more ruthless in every decisive moment.
Bruno Fernandes opened the scoring after capitalising on a defensive lapse, stumbling as he struck yet still steering the ball beyond Sam Johnstone. It was a scruffy finish to cap a move Wolves had brought upon themselves, but it reflected United’s early control. Bryan Mbeumo, lively throughout, twice went close before Fernandes’ breakthrough, and Diogo Dalot should also have scored when clean through.
Wolves, however, found a flicker of life against the run of play. Ki-Jana Hoever’s cross created a scramble that ended with David Moller Wolfe nodding the ball down for Jean-Ricner Bellegarde, who stabbed in their first goal of Rob Edwards’ four-match tenure. For a few minutes, a home crowd that had spent the opening quarter of an hour protesting against the club’s ownership found reason to believe their side might turn a corner.
But Wolves’ resistance unravelled brutally after the break. Dalot burst into space down the left and squared for Mbeumo to tap in unmarked — a simple, avoidable goal that exposed the glaring lack of communication in Wolves’ back line. From there, United played with a freedom absent for long spells this season. Fernandes produced the game’s standout pass, a delicate clip through the defence that allowed Mason Mount to finish calmly for 3–1, before Yerson Mosquera’s handball gifted Fernandes a penalty he hammered high into the net to complete the scoring.
United could have had more, their attacking patterns far more coherent than in recent weeks. Mbeumo and Mount both looked revitalised, while Fernandes — praised by James Maddison post-match for his consistency — once again dictated everything in the final third, taking his tally to 15 goal involvements in his last 14 league games against struggling sides.
For Wolves, the problems cut deeper than a single heavy defeat. They remain without a point under Edwards, 13 adrift of safety, and at times looked resigned to their fate. Many supporters missed the opening stages due to protests, and those who were inside the ground saw a team ravaged by hesitation and defensive frailty. Though Bellegarde impressed before injury, Wolves created little and conceded with alarming ease — worrying signs for a club sliding rapidly towards the Championship.
United, by contrast, chalked up back-to-back away wins in the league for the first time under Ruben Amorim. Where their ceiling lies remains unknown, but the floor is rising steadily. Wolves, meanwhile, stare at a season already feeling long — and getting darker by the week.
