For an hour
on Wednesday night, Manchester United were in something approaching full
flow, full of pass and move and fluency. Full of rhythm and stealth.
For
15 minutes either side of that, though, they were poor. They were
vulnerable and uncertain and skittish. It was, as it turned out, another
contradictory performance in an altogether contradictory season.
Maybe
we should expect this. United are after all a work in progress. Or
maybe they just aren’t quite good enough. Maybe they are relying on key
players too heavily, maybe the squad is slightly too thin.
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Manchester United defender Chris
Smalling (right) celebrates with Memphis Depay after scoring his side's
winning goal on Wednesday
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The Manchester United team celebrate
together after Smalling had given his side the lead in their Champions
League clash with Wolfsburg
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The England defender latched onto Juan Mata's sublime backheel flick and beat the Bundesliga outfit's offside trap to poke home
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Smalling sneaked in around the back of the defence and scored beyond keeper Diego Benaglio in the Wolfsburg goal at Old Trafford
MATCH FACTS AND RATINGS
MANCHESTER UNITED (4-2-3-1): De
Gea 6; Valencia 4 (Young 45mins 7), Smalling 7, Blind 7, Darmian 6.5;
Schneiderlin 6.5, Schweinsteiger 6.5 (Jones 71mins 6.5); Mata 8, Rooney
5, Depay 6.5 (Pereira 61mins 6); Martial 7.5
Goals: Mata (pen) 33, Smalling 53
Subs not used: Wilson, Romero, Fellaini, McNair
Booked: Schneiderlin, Schweinsteiger
WOLFSBURG (4-2-3-1):
Benaglio 6; Trasch 6 (Jung 76mins 6), Naldo 6, Dante 6.5, Rodriguez
6.5; Guilavogui 6, Arnold 6.5 (Schurrle 69mins 6.5); Caligiuri 6.5,
Kruse 7, Draxler 7; Dost 6 (Bendtner 69mins 6)
Goal: Kruse 4
Subs not used: Seguin, Grun, Klose, Schafer
Booked: Caligiuri
Referee: Viktor Cass 5
MOM: Juan Mata
Player ratings by Joe Bernstein
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Manchester United goalkeeper David De
Gea celebrates after helping his side earn a Champions League win over
the Bundesliga outfit
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Former Arsenal striker Nicklas
Bendtner (right) and his Wolfsburg team-mates are left dejected after
losing 2-1 against the Red Devils
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Wolfsburg had taken the lead early on
when Antonio Valencia failed to step up with his fellow defenders
and Daniel Caligiuri fired home
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The Wolfsburg midfielder latched onto a
through ball after Valencia played the visitors onside and he
confidently scored for his side
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Goalkeeper De Gea was left to pick the
ball up from the back of the net within the opening five minutes of the
Champions League game
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Caligiuri celebrates his goal with his
Wolfsburg team-mates after shocking the Premier League giants at Old
Trafford on Wednesday
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Red Devils captain Rooney (left) and Anthony Martial prepare to restart the game after going 1-0 down against the German side
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United midfielder Bastian
Schweinsteiger (left) battles for the ball in the middle of the park
with France international Josuha Guilavogui
Manchester United are now level on three points with the rest of Group B following their well-earned 2-1 victory over Wolfsburg
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England striker Rooney leaps high above Guilavogui to win the ball as the striker attempts to win back possession for his team
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Depay goes close to scoring for the home side with a diving header during United's European clash against the German side
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The Holland winger tussles with
Wolfsburg midfielder Christian Trasch in an attempt to win the ball back
for Van Gaal's Red Devils
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United were soon in front in the
second half when Smalling did excellently to read Mata's backheel flick
to make it 2-1 to United
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After losing their opening Champions
League clash with PSV, Smalling's second-half winner ensured United put
that result behind them
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Smalling, who impressed for United,
celebrates after given his side a 2-1 lead in their vital Champions
League match with Wolfsburg
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