Cunha’s Wolves magic and Fernandes’ red card add to Manchester United’s woes | Premier League

It was impossible to ignore the change in mood as fans chanted the name of their charismatic Portuguese head coach, who parachuted in to solve countless problems, but above all the abysmal results and faltering defense. Determined to immerse himself in the local culture, he and his staff spent Christmas Day having a traditional lunch at a local pub a few miles outside of town. Then there are the tensions between those who pay their money in the stands and those who spend it in the boardroom. There has been an unfortunate picture for some time now as the players have probably thought about a suitable escape route. The problem for Ruben Amorim is that Vítor Pereira was the coach who triumphed here.

Manchester United have now suffered four defeats in their last five games. United, who drop a place to 14th, are eight points above the relegation zone, 11 from the top four, which is coming heavily out of sight after Amorim has taken seven points from a possible 21 since Erik ten Hag was replaced. Matheus Cunha – what would the Wolves be without him? – scored the first goal straight from a corner, putting the ball in the corner eight minutes into stoppage time for substitute Hwang Hee-chan to easily finish. It was a flawless start for Pereira, securing two wins from two games and securing the division’s worst defense. At least for now. At the same time, United never looked like scoring.

While the first half largely fell into a phase of nothingness and thickening fog, the second half was the exact opposite. It had only been 85 seconds when Bruno Fernandes was penalized for a weak tackle on his Portuguese teammate Nelson Semedo by catching the Wolves captain on the ankle, and referee Tony Harrington quickly drew a second yellow card. Fernandes had been booked in the first half for bringing down Cunha, the best – and arguably most talented – player on the pitch, a captivating striker capable of extraordinary things. Exhibit A here was the moment, 15 minutes into this contest, when he controlled José Sá’s clumsy lobbed pass to the left with an exquisite backheel shot and then played a one-two with the quintessentially Tiger-João Gomes, luring Noussair Mazraoui into a rough takedown to stop its progress.

Barely a minute after Fernandes removed the captain’s armband from his bicep and trotted off the pitch, Jørgen Strand Larsen headed in a cross from Semedo, but the goal was disallowed. Then there was a lengthy video referee check in which the Norwegian striker was offside.

Cunha was determined to have fun despite the extra attention and his in-swinging corner caught André Onana, who was struggling in the fog under pressure from Matt Doherty, while the Brazilian’s wicked ball hung under the crossbar and landed at the far post. Onana hoped the referee would save him, but the claim alone spoke volumes about United’s poor performance. In the end, the sight of Harry Maguire trying to get a hopeful long ball into the box was a reminder of the recent past.

United lacked any rhythm from the moment Leny Yoro, promoted to the starting XI to play for the club in League Two, was booked for cutting Cunha after four minutes. Yoro was among the players withdrawn just after the hour mark when Amorim made a triple substitution. with Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Antony the featured. Then came Alejandro Garnacho and Joshua Zirkzee. Marcus Rashford? He didn’t play for the fourth game in a row.

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