Cristiano Ronaldo’s presence was felt as Manchester United beat Wolves in their first game since announcing they had reached an agreement to re-sign the forward.
Ronaldo was not at Molineux but United’s travelling fans sang his name, with United expected to confirm the arrival of the five-time Ballon d’Or winner from Juventus in the coming days for £12.8m.
On the pitch, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side were second-best to a lively Wolves for long periods before Mason Greenwood scored a contentious late winner.
Wolves felt Ruben Neves was fouled in the build-up but the goal was allowed to stand.
Wolves could have been 3-0 up inside 15 minutes, with Raul Jimenez forcing David de Gea into an early save, Aaron Wan-Bissaka making a goal-saving block to deny Trincao and Joao Moutinho volleying over after a mistake by Jadon Sancho.
United were second best for long periods and it required a spectacular double save by De Gea from Romain Saiss to prevent Wolves from taking the lead before Greenwood’s finish.
Carboard cutouts and ‘Viva Ronaldo’ chants
There was a carnival atmosphere at Molineux. Wolves fans were excited at the arrival of new striker Hwang Hee-chan – who was presented on the pitch after arriving from RB Leipzig – while United’s travelling supporters sang about Ronaldo from start to finish.
Chants of ‘Viva Ronaldo’ could be heard outside the ground two hours before kick-off.
Inside Molineux, United fans wore CR7 T-shirts, held up ‘welcome back Ronaldo’ signs and wore replica shirts with his name on the back.
Supporters also displayed a cardboard cutout of Ronaldo, while Ole Gunnar Solskjaer spoke excitedly before the match about the imminent return of the 36-year-old.
