Manchester United 3-2 Wolves: Hernandez Bags Winner To See League Cup Holders Progress

Wolverhampton Wanderers came back twice from behind to suffer a late goal from Manchester United's Javier Hernandez.

Goals from Bebe, Ji-Sung Park and Hernandez downed Mick McCarthy's determined side, as the fought back with goals from Kevin Foley and George Elo

Alex Ferguson’s side passed the ball around smoothly throughout the pitch, whilst Gabriel Obertan tended to burst forward through Wolves.

Jarvis and Jones partnered up nicely on the right, with rapid one-twos to beat Fabio.

Calls for handball came within the first quarter, as Park combined with Fabio on the left and centred to Gabriel Obertan, whose shot took a wicket deflection off Berra’s hand to land straight into the arms of Hennessy.

Manchester United registered the first shot on target of the game, as Bebe fought with Elokobi on the right wing, and provided Macheda with a missed cross, who tried to curl it into Hennessy’s left hand side.

The bleak start saw Wolves push forward with Foley laying on Jarvis down the right hand side, who curled an awkward ball into Amos’ box, needing Wes Brown to header clear for a corner.

The slow pace of the game provided both Wolves and United with short bursts of energy, which saw Gibson link with Macheda on the edge of the 16yd box, holding the ball nicely infront of Wolves’ defence before trying to unleash a shot.

Paul Scholes scored the last goal between the two sides, a 1-0 victory at Molineux.

The first half hour saw bright patches from United’s youngsters, where Bebe muscled off the Wolves defence, playing alongside a powerful and creative Gabriel Obertan.

Jones had an inviting free-kick from 20yds out, following an indecisive tackle from Johnny Evans, yet scuffed it into the wall.

Hennessy played a long ball up field trying to find Fletcher, but the Scot didn’t seem to push Evans hard enough to win the header. Wolves have failed to get into any threatening attacking positions against a very young and inexperienced Manchester United side, who similarly didn’t look persuasive enough.

Bebe, Obertan and Macheda looked lively in the first half, yet the dull tempo of the game must have made Ferguson want to join Rooney on his excursion to Dubai.

The very dull 45 minutes of football saw many scuffed crosses and missed passes from both parties, essentially Wolves came off worse as they have not won a game in over a month and did not seem like they wanted to.

The second half opened brightly, with Fletcher playing a nice one-two with Park and firing a metre over Hennessy’s bar, whilst Obertan provided Macheda with a short ball inside the area, who nearly recreated his winning goal against Aston Villa last season, slotting it just wide of Hennessy’s netting.

Manchester United stepped up the tempo as Gibson sliced a clean strike from 35yds out straight into the keeper’s hands.

Bebe broke the deadlock on 56’ with a run down the right hand side before trying to cross the ball across goal, taking lucky deflection off Ebanks-blake to pounce over the goalkeeper to only just cross over the line.

Goal-line technology may jump to mind, especially only a few hours after UEFA president Platini claimed that it would produce ‘playstation’ football. Ironic.

Wolves pulled one back only three minutes after United’s opener – the visitors won a corner on the right, which Jones took with his left, a curling effort right into the path of George Elokobi who headed it into the back of Amos’s net.

Mick McCarthy’s side continued to pile on the pressure as Jarvis ran down the left wing and cut the ball in for Hunt to meet United’s crossbar, having keeper Ben Amos completely beat.

Both sides livened up in the final third of the game, whilst Macheda met a lovely ball from the left, 10yds in front of goal yet managed to fire over.

South-Korean International Ji-Sung Park put the Red Devils back in front after Macheda lost out to Ebanks Blake inside the box. The midfielder struck a composed strike into the top right hand corner, leaving Hennessy stranded.

Gary Neville, who gained his 400^th cap for the club against Stoke last weekend, replaced Fabio on the 75-minute mark.

Wolves equalised for a second time in the tie, with Ebanks-blake crossing a ball into the box for Kevin Foley. The right back showed creative skill as he cheekily knocked it through to Matt Jarvis. Jarvis fired a low-shot to beat Amos for the second time of the night.

Both sides upped the tempo in the last 15 minutes of the game, whilst weekend star Javier Hernandez came on for impressive Bebe.

Hernandez made a direct impression on the game, after connecting with Micheal Carrick’s pass straight through the heart of Wolves’ defence, before scurrying it to his left foot and lofting it over Hennessy. The 22-year-old maintained great composure within the box, and was rewarded with the winning goal.