LONDON – Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag was full of praise for Kobbie Mainoo as the teenager scored a 97th-minute winner to snatch a dramatic 4-3 English Premier League win at Wolverhampton Wanderers on Feb 1, after blowing a two-goal lead.
Marcus Rashford’s goalscoring return, days after being fined for missing training following a night out, looked set to grab the headlines as the Red Devils raced into a 2-0 lead by the 22nd minute with Rasmus Hojlund also scoring.
Scott McTominay restored the visitors’ two-goal cushion four minutes after Pablo Sarabia’s penalty got Wolves back in the game in the 71st minute.
The home side then looked to have claimed a point when Max Kilman and Pedro Neto struck late on to make it 3-3. However, 18-year-old Mainoo provided one final twist with a brilliant solo run and shot in the latest display of his potential as a rising star.
“He’s making incredible progress. He has great abilities. He is the modern midfield player, he can attack and defend. He has the intelligence to do both and the physicality. I will push him and support him to continue. He can become a great player,” said ten Hag.
“Last autumn when I saw him for first time. I thought he was playing too comfortable in Under-21s, he should be much more dominant. We pushed him a lot, by showing him but also in training, he makes such good progress. It is wonderful to see. I hope he stays calm.”
Rashford missed United’s 4-2 FA Cup win at Newport County last weekend after he spent two nights out in a Belfast nightclub last week.
Ten Hag insisted before kick-off that it was “case closed” after the matter was dealt with internally.
The player was reportedly fined £650,000 (S$1.1 million).
But the England international made an instant impact on his return, giving the visitors a perfect start after five minutes with a fine finish from outside the box.
Hojlund then bundled in his third goal in four Premier League games from Luke Shaw’s cross.
Ten Hag has put his side’s poor form this season down to an injury crisis and the Red Devils were much improved with Shaw, Lisandro Martinez and Casemiro all back in the side for the first time in months.
Wolves have beaten Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur and Chelsea at home this season and looked to have been gifted a route back into the game in the second half when Sarabia converted a penalty. But McTominay then replaced Casemiro and scored with his first touch.
Kilman pulled another goal back for Wolves from a corner and Neto seemed to have completed the comeback in the 95th minute by firing inside Andre Onana’s near post. Mainoo, though, produced a moment of magic to secure United’s first away league win since November.
Ten Hag’s men can move into the top six on Feb 4 when they host West Ham United after the Hammers were held 1-1 at home to Bournemouth.
“It is massive for us to win,” added the United boss.
“We played very good and dictated the game for an hour. We should have made it 4-0, we didn’t and the end it is quite naive in how we conceded goals. We then showed resilience, especially Kobbie Mainoo.”
Wolves boss Gary O’Neil, meanwhile, said he was disappointed with the manner his team lost the match but he was also proud of his players. “I was proud of what they produced. Effort, quality, togetherness. Loads of it. Bundles and bundles of it,” he said.
“The boys with the ball were excellent and did some good work against a good side, so I’m disappointed because I hate talking about positives when we have not got any points, because we’re here for points. But the boys will learn from it.” AFP
