The Red Devils failed to trouble Wolves during an FA Cup outing at Molineux, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side made to look rather toothless
Manchester United failed to muster a single shot on target during their 0-0 FA Cup draw with Wolves, with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer seeing the Red Devils hit a five-year low on that front.
A rather dour third round encounter was played out at Molineux on Saturday.
Two Premier League rivals would be expected to make cup competition a top priority this season.
Both remain in contention for Europa League glory, but will feel that domestic action presents another possible route to major silverware.
Neither Wolves nor United looked like serious contenders, though, during another meeting in the West Midlands.
Nuno’s side disposed of the Red Devils at the quarter-final stage of the 2018-19 FA Cup.
Solskjaer, who has also dropped top-flight points in the Black Country during his tenure, spoke in the build-up to the game of being wary of the threat posed by Wolves.
He would, however, have been expecting his players to offer more in pursuit of victory.
Wolves and United could do without a replay, given their respective schedules, but that is precisely what they are now planning for.
That contest will take place at Old Trafford, with a serious blank drawn at Molineux.
Solskjaer and Nuno saw their respective teams fire in 12 shots apiece in an initial meeting, but few of those efforts troubled those between the sticks.
Wolves managed two on target, but saw the impressive Sergio Romero collect another clean sheet, while United gave John Ruddy nothing to do.
0 – Manchester United failed to direct a single shot on target in a domestic league or cup game for the first time since January 2015 vs Southampton in the Premier League. Barren. #FACup pic.twitter.com/E8HFv2RWNg
— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 4, 2020
Hitting a five-year low is not the kind of headline that Solskjaer will have wanted to make.
He has seen United struggle for consistency once again in 2019-20.
They have tended to fare admirably on the big occasion, with positive results collected against Premier League high-fliers.
A number of changes were made, though, for a meeting with Wolves.
Mason Greenwood was asked to lead the line, with the teenage striker being supported by Daniel James, Juan Mata and Tahith Chong.
Marcus Rashford was introduced off the bench with 20 minutes remaining, but the in-form England international failed to make much of an impact.
United’s attention will now shift to the first leg of a Carabao Cup semi-final derby date with Manchester City, with considerably more firepower going to be required against a Blues side that is chasing down a hat-trick of League Cup triumphs.
Be the first to comment