Marcus Rashford came off the bench to score the winning goal as Manchester United secured a slender 1-0 victory away at Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League on New Year's Eve.
Rashford was dropped to the substitutes' bench for 'internal disciplinary reasons' according to Erik ten Hag, but he came on at half time to net the only goal of the game in the 76th minute.
Despite a late surge of pressure from Wolves, the Red Devils managed to hold on for a hard-fought victory that sees Ten Hag's side climb above Tottenham Hotspur into the top four.
As for Wolves, they remain inside the Premier League relegation zone, one point adrift of safety, with Julen Lopetegui unable to follow up Monday's win at Everton with another three points in his first home league game in charge of the club.
The major talking point before kickoff was that of Rashford's absence from the first XI, with 18-year-old Alejandro Garnacho handed just his second Premier League start for the Red Devils as a result.
Ten Hag also decided to continue with Luke Shaw at centre-back alongside Raphael Varane, with Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof both watching on from the substitutes' bench.
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United came close to opening the scoring in the sixth minute when Casemiro saw a glancing header deflected just over the crossbar following an outswinging corner from Christian Eriksen.
Garnacho, who looked lively on the left flank, was then presented with a glorious chance to break the deadlock in the 16th minute when the Argentine starlet pounced on an awful back-pass from Nelson Semedo, forcing Wolves goalkeeper Jose Sa to rush off his line and make an important save.
Wolves responded with their first chance of the match in the 24th minute, but Diego Costa's tame effort on the left side of the penalty area was easily saved low down by David de Gea.
Just before the half-hour mark, Bruno Fernandes almost set up Anthony Martial with a delightful curling cross rolled into the penalty area, but Nathan Collins perfectly timed his tackle to clear the ball away from danger.
Antony then had two headed chances towards the end of the half, his first directed straight at Sa following a Tyrell Malacia cross from the left, before the Brazilian failed to generate enough power on his second effort which was saved at Sa's near post seconds before the half-time whistle blew.
Despite posing a threat down the left flank in the first half, Garnacho was replaced at the interval by Rashford, while Julen Lopetegui opted to bring on Adama Traore at the expense of Diego Costa, with Huang Hee-chan taking the central striking role.
Traore's presence instantly lifted the Molineux faithful, and the powerful winger delivered a few dangerous deliveries early on into United's box, crosses that would have been ideal for Costa had he stayed on the pitch.
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Wolves midfielder Ruben Neves came close with a trademark 30-yard free kick just before the hour mark, but his brilliant curling effort towards the top-right corner was well saved at full stretch by De Gea.
The two teams were defending resiliently and the game appeared to be heading for a draw, but the emergence of Rashford off the bench ultimately made the difference for Man United, who managed to break the deadlock 14 minutes from time.
After receiving the ball on the left wing, Rashford cut inside and played a neat one-two with Fernandes before the Englishman used his strength to drive into the penalty box, brushing off the defensive efforts of Jonny Castro and Collins and firing a low strike beyond Sa.
Rashford then thought he has doubled United's lead in the final five minutes when his strike rebounded off of Sa and bounced into the net, but VAR intervened to disallow the goal for a handball in the build-up.
Wolves caused problems for United's backline in the closing stages and substitute Raul Jimenez came close to netting a stoppage-time equaliser, only for De Gea to make a brilliant save from point-blank range to ensure that the Red Devils held on to claim all three points.
Man United end 2022 on a high and will now turn their attention to their first fixture of the New Year at home against Bournemouth on January 3, while Wolves will travel to Aston Villa for their next match a day later.
Oliver Thomas
