Patrício's Spectacular Save Denies Pogba Penalty, Preserves Draw for Wolves
The Wolverhampton Wanderers are picking up where they left off last season.
Make no mistake, dudes are looking like a team on the rise, intent on reviving the past glories of this storied club.
Wolves quickly served notice upon their return to the Premiership that they're not content just to be there. A seventh-place finish and a berth in the Europa League confirmed it.
They did it by protecting the home fires, going 10-4-5 at Molineaux, which included beating big brands like Arsenal and Manchester United. The Red Devils are believers, having also lost to them in the FA Cup last March and, being real, haven't won an away match since.
It should be no surprise, then, that Wolves gave as good as they got in this match. In a very even game, Paul Pogba's missed penalty proved to be crucial, while Anthony Martial and Rúben Neves scored in the 1-1 draw.
The Devils did their best to break the jinx in the first 45. Their goal was the result of a great team effort involving the front three. Jesse Lingard passed to Marcus Rashford, who set up Martial, who buried the ball past Rui Patrício:
United should've done better, as they had chances to go to the break with a larger advantage. However, nothing changed until after the interval.
And it wasn't them doing the changing.
Wolves' equalizer came in the 56th minute, following a short-corner. João Moutinho dished to Neves, who struck a superb strike into David de Gea's top corner from 20 yards.
United had a prime opportunity to regain the lead in the 68th minute when Conor Coady brought Pogba down.
After a brief discussion with Rashford, the Frenchman himself stepped up and ... here's the sequence:
Dude was clearly too close to the goal.
So it goes for United.
Wolves, meanwhile, are still a few players short of joining the elite, but their work rate's been making up for it more often than not.
Don't be surprised to see them nipping at the elite teams' heels all season long. Again.