Cristiano Ronaldo loses proud career record
As awful Man United are beaten by Wolves
Manchester United turned in one of their most disappointing performances of the season as they were well beaten by Wolves at Old Trafford, and it was a particularly disappointing night for Cristiano Ronaldo.
A sluggish United side were second best in the first period as the visitors were unfortunate to go in level, but they did improve in the second half as Bruno Fernandes hit the bar and Ronaldo had a goal ruled out for offside.
However, it was the pair’s fellow Portuguese Joao Moutinho who popped up with the winner for Wolves, spearing in a fine drive from the edge of the box to give Bruno Lage’s side a deserved 1-0 success.
For Ronaldo, the defeat will have particularly hurt as it was the first time he had captained United since his return to the club last summer.
Although a regular skipper for his country, Ronaldo wore the armband for just the 11th time in his club career – and suffered his first ever defeat while doing so.
It was a loss that led to a brutal response from United left-back Luke Shaw, who questioned the display of his teammates.
“Not good enough, we really struggled, we couldn’t get hold of the ball and when we didn’t have the ball we weren’t aggressive enough. We didn’t put them under any pressure,” Shaw told Sky Sports.
“It maybe looked like an easy game for them. A disappointing performance and result. We didnt have many options on the ball and we weren’t on the front foot.
“We have to put more pressure on them, we have to have intensity. Us players, we have been here a long time, maybe tonight we struggled, 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.
“We need to bring the intensity and more motivation. Inside the dressing room, we know what we want but out on the pitch we need to give 100 per cent. To win these types of games we all need to be 100 per ceny committed. It is tough and disappointing.”
Interim boss Ralf Rangnick agreed, telling BBC Sport: “Very disappointed, like the players.
“We knew it could be a complicated game because the Wolves with a back five are very flexible in midfield.
“In the first half we were struggling. We had too many easy turnovers, too many unforced errors and too many giveaways. That didn’t make the job any easier for us and that is why we changed to a back three.