Vítor Pereira aiming for more with Wolves after Old Trafford win over Amorim’s United
Manchester United 0-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers
When Vítor Pereira took charge of Wolverhampton Wanderers in December, his new club were 13 points behind Manchester United in the Premier League.
After securing a double over Ruben Amorim’s United at Old Trafford on Sunday, the teams ended the afternoon level on points, drawing attention to the outstanding job Pereira has done during his short time at Molineux.
A stunning second-half free-kick from Pablo Sarabia – Amorim’s former player at Sporting- gave Wolves all three points at the Theatre of Dreams. It was their 5th straight victory in the Premier League, marking Wolves’ best winning run in the English top flight for over fifty years – since the 1970-71 season.
The match was one of little consequence for either team, both of whom were not in realistic danger of relegation. For United, such statements are a cause for embarrassment, but Wolves were 5 points adrift from safety when former Porto boss was appointed in December. Now they are 17 points clear of the drop zone.
For Amorim, another defeat in domestic competition, albeit the United boss had made changes to his side after a gruelling win over Lyon in Europe on Thursday. Mainstays Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot were even afforded a rest to the bench, while youngsters Tyler Fredricson (20) and Harry Amass (18) gave the defence a youthful look.
As such, the game did have an end-of-season feel, with United creating the better opportunities, while Wolves, who had Nélson Semedo and Toti Gomes in the line-up, barely threatened until Sarabia’s piece of brilliance. Such were United’s struggles, both Dalot and Fernandes were introduced on the hour, while Rodrigo Gomes made a late appearance for the visitors in place of Semedo.
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Vítor Pereira (Wolves)
“In our job, the most important thing it to see the happiness in the players, the supporters, the people of the club. This is my satisfaction.
“United played well, after a big win which gave them confidence, they played well. We were a bit reactive. Today we missed a bit of aggressiveness in my opinion. Today was not the best game we have played, but it was again with the true spirit and sometimes if you don’t win when you’re not on your level, you have to be with your heart and soul and spirit. That’s what happened and when we had the chance we got the goal.
“I’m not looking at the relegation zone. I want my players to look [up] at the places we can reach with another three points. And this is the spirit I want in my team. We came here with the intention to win, not to draw.
“The records we are breaking? Of course the impact in the Premier League is a world impact. What we do here is something that’s spoken about in my country, spoken about everywhere. Because this is the best league in the world, But honestly I’m not thinking about records. I’m thinking about creating the identity that we have at this moment.”
Ruben Amorim (Manchester United)
“If you look at the game, we were the better team. But in the end, it doesn’t matter. If we don’t score goals, nothing matters. In the end it’s the result that counts.
“We created a lot of chances. We had the game, we controlled the game. One set piece changes the game and that’s it. It’s really frustrating to end the game like this.
“The future? Of course we have a plan and we talk about that every day. But the season is not over so let’s focus on that. To the fans we say the truth: that we lack a lot of things in our team. If we don’t score goals we are not going to win. We have a lot to do. Until the end of the league it is going to be like this, then we need to do something.”
By @SeanGillen9