It took Manchester United five games to finally defeat closely Premier League outfit Wolves and progress on to the fourth round of the FA Cup campaign.
A lively and even first-half as both sides looked fought closely to find the breakthrough.
Story of the match:
Juan Mata scored the only goal in United's narrow 1-0 win over Wolves but the visitors thought they had the lead on 10 minutes through Pedro Neto who celebrated but moments after, VAR caused controversy by ruling out the goal after a handball from Raul Jimenez's in the build-up.
The Spaniard though, made the most of Wolves' distraction in defence and was able to capitalise from it by clipping the ball over John Ruddy.
While the visitors were unable to capitalise on their many chances early on, this ended up costing them a progression to the next round.
Jimenez was unfortunate to not have found the opener early on 8 minutes as he was at the centre of the early action. Adama Traore's cross from the left byline found the Mexican, whose left-footed strike was saved by Sergio Romero.
Joao Moutinho set up a cross from the left side towards the goal which ended up on the goal line but Matic was there to clear it, while Jimenez had the chance to capitalize as he found space for himself in the box but his shot was straight at Romero.
After the break, Wolves started the quieter side with the Reds still pushing on for an opener.
A slip in concentration in the 67th minute from the visitors' defence saw Nuno's men pay. The back three failed to clear the ball forward, allowing Marcus Rashford to assist Mata to chip over Ruddy.
Still contesting for an equaliser in the last ten minutes, Wolves took control and Neves' tried his luck on the edge of the box but his volley fizzed just over the bar.
Morgan-Gibbs White, Ruben Vinagre and debutant, Oskar Buur took to the field in the second-half but unfortunately were not able to take more from the game after a closely fought game. Nuno's side reached the semi-finals of the competition last year.
Takeaways from the match:
Win some, lose some: Rashford injury-blow.
Marcus Rashford replaced Daniel James in the second-half but unfortunately for the 22-year-old, he only lasted 15 minutes on the pitch. Alarmed bells rang when he was bought down following a challenge with Matt Doherty causing real concern for the Red Devils. He was eventually withdrawn as he struggled to continue.
"He's struggled with his knocks on his back lately."
New debut at the Theatre of Dreams:
Despite signing for the Wanderers in 2017, the 21-year-old made his debut under Nuno Espirito Santo. Buur had not feature in any Premier League or the FA Cup before.
Brandon Williams continues to impress:
After making his fifth appearance against Premier League outfit Norwich City last time out, he kept his place in the squad and produce another quality display against the Wanderers.
He caused some trouble for the Wolves defence, keeping a very dangerous pace.
Man of the match: Juan Mata.
The Spaniard produced a moment of brilliance scoring the winner goal to send the Red Devils through to the fourth round of the competition. This is the first goal of the season for United's number 8.
"Lucky I put the ball in the back of the net, luckily I wasn't offside. I had to wait for VAR, you have to wait nowadays.
"I think it's been five games we hadn't beat them, they are a very good team," said Mata.
"He's different class. He's got the skills, the composure," Ole Gunnar Solskjaer told BT Sport.
Nuno Espirito Santo's thoughts:
"I think it was an even game. Both teams had chances. We had good ones, I just saw the goal and didn't think we defended well."
"I’m disappointed to go out because it’s frustrating knowing we did well, we performed well, and we don’t go to the next one. I’m happy with the boys, happy with the support."
On VAR disallowing goal:
"That's VAR, there's nothing we can do."