Marcus Rashford netted after just five minutes before Rasmus Hojlund added a second and Wolves survived an onslaught to reach half-time.
A Pablo Sarabia penalty gave them hope, but that hope dashed four minutes later when Scott McTominay headed in a third.
Max Kilman’s smart finish restored some hope once again, before Pedro Neto’s 95th minute goal seemed to snatch a point.
But just two minutes later Kobbie Mainoo finished to steal all three points and leave Wolves devastated.
A Pablo Sarabia penalty gave them hope, but that hope dashed four minutes later when Scott McTominay headed in a third.
Max Kilman’s smart finish restored some hope once again, before Pedro Neto’s 95th minute goal seemed to snatch a point.
But just two minutes later Kobbie Mainoo finished to steal all three points and leave Wolves devastated.
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SportsTranscript
00:00 Hello I'm Nathan Judah I'm here with wolves reporter Mr Liam Keane. Liam, I can't believe
00:15 I'm quite saying this result. Wolfhound Tornadoes 3 Manchester United 4. Absolutely played off
00:22 the park first half. Makes it 3-1 I think there's no way, no way that the wolves get
00:29 back in it. Then all of a sudden 3-3 and then they let it go. I mean very frustrating but
00:35 overall it was a disappointing night wasn't it? Yeah, I mean where should we start? Start
00:39 with the first half? Let's start with the first half, it was 7 goal thriller yeah. It
00:43 was exactly what you just said. Great for the neutral. Yeah great for neutral but wolves
00:47 all over the place. Not for your match report. No wolves all at sea in that first half. Rashford
00:51 having as you tweeted the freedom of Wolverhampton he was causing so many problems down that side
00:56 and it's not just the fault of Nelson Samoa getting caught out because Pedro Neto wasn't
01:00 helping him track back at all. Samoa actually was ok tonight in comparison to some of the
01:03 defenders that a lot of the others made mistakes that were much more high profile but the reason
01:08 I bring that up is because Rashford was having such a good game people would think Samoa
01:11 would be battered. It wasn't. He was getting no support down that side. He was left 2-1
01:16 almost every time Rashford got the ball. Neto was doing nowhere near enough and had a really
01:20 good ball first half. He wasn't the only one. Wolves over rule which is poor. A really far
01:25 too easy goal for Rashford. A great finish but far too easy move for the wolves to concede.
01:30 They get a lucky second. It comes off Kilman, it comes off Sarth and bundles in off Hoyland
01:35 but you're 2-0 down. They have two goals disallowed right at the end of the first half and wolves
01:39 are lucky to still be in the game to be honest after that first half. They come back out
01:43 and they're definitely much better. They had a very brief spell in the first half where
01:46 they did have control of the ball and possession for 5-10 minutes or so. They saw more of that
01:51 in the second, got themselves back into it, got a penalty. Maybe a little bit questionable
01:55 but wolves needed it. When the game was drifting really. It was quiet around here. It was almost
01:59 like they were playing just to finish the game. We said didn't we that the game was
02:03 sort of dying to death. We were talking, sat watching it thinking there's nothing in this
02:07 game now. Wolves don't look like they're coming back into it. United don't look like they're
02:10 adding to their score line. It was a bit of a nothing game for 10-15 minutes and then
02:14 the penalty. I think the angles and the replays they've had have not been very good. There
02:20 was definitely contact. There was enough contact for the reaction Neto had. It's questionable
02:23 but wolves have had a lot to go against them so it's probably fair. Probably one of those
02:28 where they just about go with the referee's decision. If that wasn't given there's no
02:32 way they overturned it either way. Yeah I agree. I don't think they could have overturned
02:35 it based on the evidence we had in front of us. So it was a penalty, Strabia scores it,
02:39 wolves are back in. Slightly strange he took it off. Courtney seemed to be pretty disappointed
02:43 that he wasn't going to get it. Yeah I was surprised Strabia took it but he scored it
02:47 so I can't have a go at him, he scored it. Wolves are back in it 2-1 and within four
02:52 minutes of that they allow Tomlin who came on in the 73rd minute to score in the 75th
02:57 minute with a header. It's terrible defending. Kilman lets him go, he runs off him, he basically
03:04 just stands there, heads it into the ground and finds the corner. It's really poor defending.
03:08 And then again wolves are totally out, done but they don't know when they're done at this
03:12 moment. They come back in, Kilman gets a goal, it's actually quite well taken after it bobbles
03:19 up from Dawson's effort. Well taken goal. And they go into nine minutes of added time
03:24 and this crowd can sense something, they can feel something coming. And it's the 95th minute,
03:28 it's a devastating counter attack and it's Pedro Neto and it feels then like wolves have
03:32 grabbed an unbelievable point. Fantastic point. An unbelievable point from, let's be honest
03:35 they didn't deserve anything from this game and they've got a point from nowhere and then
03:40 Kobe Mane comes out with, to be honest, a spectacular finish. It's a really smart finish.
03:48 I actually thought genuinely, when I was watching tonight I thought he was really good tonight.
03:52 He's one of the best players on the pitch tonight. It was an excellent goal but from
03:55 a wolves point of view it is far too easy allowing him to get through. It's disappointing,
04:02 the big takeaway is they've scored to make it 2-1 and they've scored to make it 3-3 and
04:07 then both occasions they've conceded a goal within two or three minutes. That reaction
04:13 and that lack of awareness, lack of professionalism, whatever it might be, just falling asleep
04:18 at the wrong moment and conceding those goals, that's what's lost them the game. To get the
04:21 reminder to say it's already happened, you've already fallen asleep and they haven't learned
04:25 from it, that's the frustrating thing. And that's what Gary, I'm sure he'll be complimentary
04:28 about the way they battled back etc but deep down tonight when he goes into that dressing
04:32 room he'll be very disappointed, not only with the defensive showing there but just
04:35 mentally. That's never happened before. Like I say, frustrating defensively but mentally
04:55 as well, they've been so strong over the last two or three months under Gary Neal and there
04:59 was maybe a little bit of fragility, maybe it was after Lorne Mayer's parade and Albion
05:04 and all the emotions but there were definitely two or three or four moments where they switched
05:08 off collectively, not just individually tonight. Yeah, yeah and that's what's lost them the
05:14 game. And that's the most disappointing thing because it's something that's avoidable, it's
05:18 something that's so avoidable and the Wolves to be honest have not been guilty of very
05:22 often this season. So to have something so avoidable and something they've been fairly
05:28 consistent at be the reason they lose the game tonight and they would have grabbed,
05:32 I'll keep saying it because I think it's a really important point, they would have grabbed
05:34 a point in a game they deserve nothing from, nothing from at all. Absolutely, it would
05:39 have been a robbery. Yeah and we'd be foolish to stand here and say that would have been
05:44 great but I think it would be silly of us to analyse it and say it was nothing from
05:48 this game and somehow they got themselves in the position to rob a point and then have
05:54 thrown it away again. That's the most disappointing thing for Gary Neal and on a day where they
05:57 haven't made additions, fans will be frustrated. It could have gone in the top half of the
06:01 table tonight. Exactly, supporters in the first half were amused by the performance
06:07 and the fact that Wolves were giving the ball away at every opportunity and there were so
06:10 many individuals tonight that were way off it, way, way off it and then that breeds a
06:15 collective performance that's just not good enough. And look they go to Chelsea on Sunday
06:19 and they're going to have to book their ideas up, I know Chelsea are not going for the best
06:21 appearance but it looks like they're coming out of it a little bit. Of course Link with
06:24 a move for Brood today hasn't gone through, he's gone to Fulham instead. They're going
06:29 to have to play a damn slight better than this defensively especially if they're going
06:32 to get something from that game on Sunday. Yeah, Wolves don't normally go to Sanford
06:36 Bridge, there was that 2-2 under Bruno Lars, there was a late Connor Cody header but apart
06:42 from that it's not been great reading. Wolves are going to have to be a lot better. What's
06:47 the goal now Liam? They haven't added so they've got this squad, whether Gary Neal likes it
06:52 or not, going through to the end of the season, we'll discuss that on the podcast in a little
06:56 bit. But what are the goals now? Is it do as well as you can in the league and let's
07:01 really go for the FA Cup, is that the goal? Or is it just see how it goes, play one each
07:08 game at a time? I think Wolves have been so consistent this season that they've still
07:12 got opportunities in the league. But for me I put massive importance on the FA Cup now,
07:16 I really do. Wolves have got a really good opportunity of getting through against Brighton
07:19 and getting through to a quarter-final. You won a game from Wembley at that point, it's
07:24 a massive opportunity. It's not an easy thing to say and an easy thing for Wolves fans to
07:31 understand, but from a ruthless business football point of view, Wolves won't be that disappointed
07:39 with not making a signing today. Gary Neal will be, but Wolves won't be. Because financially
07:44 they have to be careful, they're comfortable in the league because of the work Gary Neal
07:48 and the players have done. Now Wolves would have wanted to add a full table, but they're
07:51 not going to be beside themselves devastated because they've given themselves this luxury,
07:56 this leeway, this wiggle room to be able to go on with Nathan Fraser as your backer. It's
08:02 not an ideal scenario, but with that taken into account, Gary Neal deserves a little
08:07 bit of leeway himself. He deserves a bit of wiggle room. He's earned that with how well
08:11 Wolves have done so far and then the lack of signings in January I think gives him that.
08:16 He deserves the benefit of the doubt a little bit. Wolves are going to, I don't think, struggle
08:19 in the second half of the season, but it's whether this squad has got enough to not run
08:23 out of steam. That's the big question. It's going to be key to keep players fit and not
08:26 to beat tonight for Wolves.
08:28 Also, Manchester United 4. For all the post-match reaction, make sure you log on to expressandstar.com.