Wolves defeated Manchester United by 1-0 to end Rangnick’s unbeaten run

Joao Moutinho strike earned Wolves its first win at Old Trafford since 1980

Manchester United suffered its first defeat under manager Ralf Rangnick. The Red Devils have lost ground in the race for the top-four after falling to a 1-0 home defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers at Old Trafford.

A brilliant strike 82nd-minute strike from Joao Moutinho earned Wolves its first win at Old Trafford since 1980 and moved Bruno Lage’s side up to 8th place.

“Winning here at Old Trafford against a big team is amazing for us,” said Joao.

United, despite entering the contest off the back of a 3-1 win over Burnley on Thursday, were second best throughout the contest and could have counted themselves fortunate not to have been behind by halftime, with Wolves dominating the opening 45 minutes.

The defeat, which is United's first in all competitions since sacking Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in November, has left them seventh in the table, four points behind Arsenal in the final UEFA Champions League spot.

The 63-year-old manager was asked if United can finish in the top four, “I cannot make any guarantees,” he said. “Look at today’s performance: if I say we are 100% convinced we will finish in the top four I don’t know if people will believe that. It is about taking the next steps and getting better. I knew this could be hard.

“I knew it would be difficult – that’s the reason why they brought me. I knew it wouldn’t be easy to find a balance between offensively and defensively. We didn’t press at all. We tried but we were not able to get into those pressing situations.”

Shaw was scathing, questioning the togetherness of a core of senior players in the XI that included him, Cristiano Ronaldo, Edinson Cavani, Raphaël Varane, Bruno Fernandes, and Nemanja Mati?.

“Us players [who] we have been here a long time, maybe tonight we struggled,” the defender said.

“I didn’t think we were all there together. You look at the players we have, we have unbelievable quality but sometimes quality is not enough.

“They were miles better in the first half. We let them take control of the game, we weren’t aggressive, and we needed to bring more intensity. Maybe we lacked that today. We need to bring intensity and more motivation.

“Inside the dressing room we know what we want but out on the pitch we need to give 100%. To win these types of games we all need to be 100% committed. It is tough and disappointing.”

Manchester United will face Aston Villa in the third round of the FA Cup on 11 January.