MANCHESTER United survived a scare at Molineux but eventually secured a victory over bottom-of-the-table Wolves that moved them up to sixth in the Premier League.
On a night when a sizeable number of home fans heeded a call to delay their entrance for 15 minutes as a protest against the club’s Chinese ownership, Wolves ended a 540-minute wait for a goal when Jean-Ricner Bellegarde found the corner after David Moller Wolfe’s mis-hit shot had bounced into his path.
It made United pay for a series of missed chances either side of a comical effort from skipper Bruno Fernandes after Andre had delayed on the ball for far too long and lost possession deep in his own half.
But Luke Shaw’s forceful tackle on Bellegarde early in the second half set the visitors on a counter-attack that led to Diogo Dalot squaring to give Bryan Mbeumo an easy finish.
When Mason Mount brilliantly controlled Fernandes’ chipped pass to drill home a third, it was the first time since March that United had been two goals ahead in an away league game.
Ferrnandes finished cleanly with an 82nd-minute penalty after a video assistant referee (VAR) intervention for handball against Yerson Mosquera to complete his side’s biggest win of the season.
The second-half performance saved head coach Ruben Amorim from another night of embarrassment in front of minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe and world darts champion and lifelong United fan Luke Littler.
While Littler and the rest of the visiting fans were celebrating, the mutinous atmosphere among the home supporters spilled over as Wolves slumped to an eighth-straight defeat, equalling an unwanted club record.
Chants against chairman Jeff Shi were followed by huge cheers at manager Rob Edwards’ decision to take off striker Jorgen Strand Larsen, although it made no difference to the outcome as Wolves remain stuck at the bottom of the league with just two points.
Before the start of the second-half, Amorim came out alone to take his seat in the visitors’ dugout.
By that time, an excellent picture had been posted online of Ratcliffe making some point to United’s director of football Jason Wilcox, with chief executive Omar Berrada trapped in between.
The caption writers could have had so much fun with it if Amorim’s side had failed to get out of the mess they had landed themselves in by wasting so many chances before the break.
By the final whistle, they had 27 shots, 10 of them on target. They really should have scored more than the four, which equals their best single-game haul in 90 minutes this season.
Wolves keeper Sam Johnstone denied Dalot and Mbeumo. When he saved from Cameroon forward Mbeumo a second time, former Wolves forward Matheus Cunha sent the rebound towards goal but Toti cleared off the line.
It even felt like United were trying not to score the goal they actually managed as Cunha elected to tee up Fernandes rather than take aim himself inside the box, before the Portuguese midfielder slipped and almost cost himself a shooting opportunity completely.
Amorim must have spent those lonely minutes before his coaching staff appeared for the start of the second half wondering what his team were going to serve up next after Wolves stunned their own supporters by equalising.
As it turned out, Wolves were not good enough to stop United taking control. But it felt like another night when there were as many questions as answers for a team which has now lost just once in nine games.