Following a week of disappointment, in which Manchester United exited from the Champions League earlier than expected as they lost to FC Basel leaving them third in the group stage, a rampant performance against Wolverhampton Wanderers was a breath of fresh air.
For the first time in four matches United managed to score more than one goal as they netted four. Nani opened the scoring before Rooney ended his goal drought when he added a second. Fletcher pulled one back for Wolves but a comeback was not on the cards as Rooney and Nani both got a second goal each to end the match at 4-1.
Following a long run of matches in which United lacked flair in their attack things looked to improve as they appeared to be gaining more of a cutting edge against Newcastle, despite only scoring one and managing a draw. Again United were more threatening in the attack against FC Basel but still only managed a single goal and sacrificed their defence whilst attacking ending in a 2-1 defeat.
In Wolves’ visit to Old Trafford there were no signs of struggles in the attack as United ran rampage with Nani at the helm of an attack which put four past their opponents. The Portuguese winger was quick and clever on his feet as he proved to be the main component in starting United’s attacks.
Nani himself provided the first goal of the match as he put United ahead. Controlling Valencia’s cross on his chest, Nani cut inside drifting past defenders as he went before firing the ball into the corner of Hennessey’s goal.
His fast pace and quick feet soon gave Phil Jones a chance to score in a third consecutive match soon after his own goal. He chased a long pass from Welbeck into the Wolves box before turning his marker to slide the ball in for Jones who was unfortunate to not get a touch on it.
Nani did get an assist however when he found acres of space on the left side to receive the ball, giving him plenty of time to coolly lay the ball off for Rooney who ended his goal drought bagging United’s second.
The torturing of the Wolves’ defence from Nani did not end there as he found the space in the box to finish Valencia ‘s cross to cancel out the one goal Wolves managed to pull back.
Nani was hugely influential throughout for United, he was always available in space to collect the ball, he kept the ball well and ran circles around Zubar in the Wolves’ defence before playing the ball on or having a shot at goal. A positive performance from United has come of something as a relief and with Nani and Rooney on fire against Wolves hopefully the form displayed in this weekend’s win can be carried into the next matches.