Manchester United's top-four prospects took a serious dent as they were deservedly beaten by the magnificent Wolves for the second time in 17 days.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer must be sick of the sight of Wolves following their dumping out of the FA Cup quarter-fianls to Nuno Espírito Santo's side as well as their latest humbling having serious ramifications to United's Champions League ambitions.
The Red Devil's threw away an early lead and squandered the opportunity to move into third with Ashley Young also seeing red 12 minutes into the second half - Mike Dean's 100th Premier League red card.
Scott Mctominay's first ever goal in United Colours opened the scoring after 22 minutes before Diogo Jota deservedly drew level with yet another strike against the Red Devils.
Wolves were fully deserving of the three points that sees them maintain seventh position by a point following Chris Smalling's own goal that sealed the points in a night to forget for the visitors.
It was a poor piece of defending from United's part with Smalling and David de Gea the main culprits as the two tangled with Leander Dendoncker before the ball slowly trickled over the line.
Wolves, in contrast, gave the Black Country loyalists another memorable night at Molineux with another giant-killing performance that made it 13 points against top-six opponents this season hot on the heels of their first FA Cup semi-final since 1998. This was the perfect build-up to their date with destiny. “Can we play you every week”, roared around the stadium with Nuno Espirito Santos being mobbed by his background staff during the goal celebration.
Since that magical night in Paris that ultimately sealed the full-time proposition for Solskjaer, the Norwegian has lost three of his previous four matches (two against Wolves) as United’s top-four credentials took a serious halt.
Solskjaer stated his team would need 15 points from their remaining seven matches to guarantee a top-four spot despite the race for Champions League now being out of their own hands.
The victory ensured Wolves beat the Red Devils twice in the same season for the first time since 1979-80. The magnificent hosts also maintained their inspiring record against 'top-six' sides in the Premier League this season earning more points than any of the other 14 teams in the competition (13 - W3 D4 L3).
The story of the match
The monuments task at hand for Solskjaer following his full-time appointment was perfectly summarised in the first 30 minutes at Molineux. United can be their own worst enemy in terms of their downfall. Lingards tame shot inside 10 seconds suggested what was to potentially to come for the hosts as it typified United’s eagerness to take the sting out of proceedings as early as possible.
In fairness, Solskjaer's reflection on the match was a fair one. United could and potentially should have been 3-0 up before Wolves were even given a route back into proceedings.
Marcus Rashford was ruled out with an ankle injury and did not travel with the team to the Midlands. Ander Herrera was also missing whilst Anthony Martial was only deemed fit enough to make the bench.
United made six changes to the team that beat Watford at Old Trafford including the return of Romelu Lukaku who missed the two previous matches. The hosts made four from Saturday's disappointing defeat at Burnley with Raul Jimenez returning to lead the line with Jota.
Wolves began the evening with their usual light show and fire display. Noise erupted through the ground with numerous chants of “Nuno had a dream” and “Ole’s at the wheel”.
Willy Boly asserted his dominance early on with a towering header to beat the returning Lukaku in the air. Lukaku then had a great opportunity from a Diogo Dalot cross that was directed straight at Patricio. United came close again when Paul Pogba’s deflected shot fell to that man Lukaku who snatched at the ball turning just wide of the post.
United's opener inside the first 20 minutes was nothing more than the hosts deserved for their dominant build-up. The goal wasn’t a surprise considering United’s early showings of danger. The only shock was, in fact, the goalscorer.
Jesse Lingard picked up the ball and danced around the right-hand side beating numerous Wolves players before finding Fred lurking on the edge of the box. The Brazilian touched the ball to McTominay who to the surprise of everyone opened up to shoot as the Scotland international cannoned his first ever United goal through the legs of Boly to fly past a helpless Patricio into the bottom corner.
The opener ensured the Red Devils have now had a different goalscorer in the league more times than any other team with 16.
However, the tide quickly turned as Wolves regained their incentive and began to look more dangerous with every waking second. Boly hooked a ball goal bound towards to Jimenez who wastefully blazed over.
It was a sign of things to come as seconds later Fred was robbed of possession following a poor pass from De Gea with Dendoncker sending the midfielder towards the deck before Jimenez picked up the loose ball and slid through Jota with a sublime pass with the outside of his boot who beat the offside trap to coolly beat De Gea. The Portuguese ace has either scored or assisted in his previous seven matches.
Complacency continued to creep into the visitors game and Nuno was left bemused how his team weren’t ahead when Matt Doherty was on the end of Luke Shaw’s backward header that found Dendoncker on the edge of the six-yard box before firing agonisingly over.
Jota continued to toy with Young forcing the defender into a cynical pullback that saw the Englishman avoid a yellow card from referee Dean.
United remained eager and came close to regaining their lead when Pogba picked out Lukaku who crossed towards Lingard who was completely unmarked but his header couldn't beat Patricio who parried wide.
Luke Shaw was booked after bringing down Jota who was chasing goal bound. McTominay almost had a second when Pogba’s flick-on from a Lukaku cross found the youngster who headed low into the palms of Patricio.
Young was sent off for two bookable offences the latter being a nasty lunge on Jota who caused the right-back havoc all evening. A correct decision on the referee's part considering the studs of Young's boot were high and followed into the legs of the Wolves' forward.
The hosts could now smell blood with a Wolves winner seeming imminent against the 10-man United. Jimenez’s current presence would make any goalkeeper squirm and the same applied even to arguably the world’s best when De Gea spilt an awkward ball that gifted the Mexico international the chance to catch the Spaniard napping. However, the striker's options were limited as Jimenez' cross eluded the incoming Ruben Vinagre.
Solskjaer was forced to offer some more defensive impetus following Young’s dismissal with Phil Jones replacing Fred. The outstanding Jota was also removed on the 73rd-minute mark with Nuno undoubtedly keeping one eye fixated on a certain FA Cup semi-final at the weekend.
Similarly to a few weeks ago, Wolves found themselves leading 2-1 following a very strange second goal. Moutinho’s cross looked to find Jimenez who was wrestling in the box with Jones. The ball seemed to ricochet off Dendoncker forcing confusion for Smalling and De Gea before the Englishman squirmed the ball into his own net. In hindsight, it should have finished 3-1 after substitute Ivan Cavaleiro thundered a shot against the bar in injury-time.
It was the perfect performance for the hosts ahead of their first FA Cup semi-final in 21 years.