Wolves 3-4 Manchester United: Kobbie Mainoo's stoppage time strike sees Red Devils win seven-goal thriller

Manchester United's Marcus Rashford scored the opening goal and Kobbie Mainoo scored a superb late winner as they defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 4-3 at Molineux on Thursday.

Manager Erik ten Hag left Rashford out of United's 4-2 Cup win over Newport County on Sunday, but he scored the opening goal after five minutes against Wolves and assisted Luke Shaw in setting up Rasmus Hojlund for the second in the 22nd minute.

United should have scored several goals in a dominant first half, and Hojlund and Casmeiro's efforts were ruled out for offside, but the game came to life midway through the second half when the home side was awarded a penalty.

Video replays showed little contact as Pedro Neto went down under a challenge from Casemiro, who had been booked in the third minute, but a VAR review confirmed the decision to award the penalty kick, and substitute Pablo Sarabia scored in the 71st minute.

Scott McTominay scored shortly after coming off the bench to restore the visitors' two-goal lead in the 75th minute, but the home side was not finished, and when Max Kilman cut the deficit in the 85th minute, it set the stage for a thrilling finish.

Neto equalised in stoppage time with a superb effort, but Mainoo surpassed that by curling the ball into the net in the 97th minute to secure a win that moved United up to seventh place in the table with 35 points. Wolves rank 11th on 29.

"It is a dream come true," Mainoo told TNT after scoring his first Premier League goal.

"It is a tough place to come. We had to get the win. I have still not come down from it, I still feel like I'm dreaming, to be honest."

"To start playing in the Premier League for my boyhood club has been amazing. Now it's about trying to win more games."

United captain Bruno Fernandes praised the 18-year-old Mainoo's calm finish in the cauldron atmosphere.

"He is a big talent. I have seen him play for the Under-18s and I said a couple of years ago the name of Kobbie without knowing if he would come and play for the first team," he told TNT.

Erik ten Hag, relieved, described his team's victory as "massive."

"I think we played very good and we dictated the game for an hour. We should have gone up 3-0 or 4-0. We didn't and in the end it's quite naive, the way we concede the goals," he said.

"It shouldn't happen, but then we showed great resilience, especially Kobbie Mainoo, it was a great goal," the Dutchman added.

SportsLigue