SOCCER/Manchester Utd 3 Wolves 0:MANCHESTER UNITED will never find an easier way of catching Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table. The stylish way would have been by beating Aston Villa on Saturday, so that this victory would have taken them three points clear, but after the startling events of four days ago – when the champions were defeated 1-0 by Martin O'Neill's men on their own turf – this was more of a soporific stroll.
While Alex Ferguson will have no complaints about three straightforward points, complaints about Wolves's line-up and attitude to the game may be remembered for quite a while longer.
Mick McCarthy sprung a big surprise with his team selection: 10 of them, in fact, as every outfield player from Saturday's notable 1-0 win at Spurs was rested.
In the old days, before anyone had heard of Champions League squads or rotation, teams used to get into trouble for doing that. Now Wolves can offer the defence that sides at the top of the table regularly make wholesale changes, and presumably argue that Burnley at home at the weekend is a more winnable fixture.
The home side themselves were not at full strength, with Michael Carrick again deployed as a centre half beside Nemanja Vidic and Ritchie De Laet preferred to Darren Fletcher at right back.
United still did most of the early attacking, with Wayne Rooney bringing two saves from the Wolves goalkeeeper Marcus Hahnemann in the first 15 minutes, although Wolves’ biggest scare came between them when Stefan Maierhofer almost turned Darron Gibson’s cross over his own line.
United kept pressing for an opening goal, with Rooney shooting narrowly wide and Vidic blazing over the bar from a corner, and when even Wolves reserves began causing them problems in defence, it was easy to see why.
First a long throw from Greg Halford found United defenders looking at each other and left George Friend with a close range opportunity he really should have accepted, then Tomasz Kuszczak, the United goalkeeper, came for Andrew Surman’s floated free kick and dropped it under pressure from Maierhofer.
Just as McCarthy must have been feeling his inexperienced and under-strength side were managing to hold their own, Wolves lack of maturity found them out and allowed United the easiest of escapes. Ronald Zubar was under no pressure when Gibson sent over a corner from the right, yet he inexplicably raised an arm and handled.
The referee Steve Bennett spotted the offence and Rooney scored his 13th goal of the season with an emphatically struck penalty.
Wolves were always going to find it hard to come back after that and the prospect became even more unlikely when United scored a second from a corner just before the interval.
Again Gibson took it, and this time Vidic met the ball with his trademark power from close to the penalty spot. Hahnemann reacted quickly enough to get his hands to the ball but the header was so forceful it squirmed out of his grasp and over the line.
United made it comfortable after 66 minutes when Antonio Valencia finished neatly from Dimitar Berbatov’s overhead flick, though in truth, against a weakened team, the home attack looked only slightly sharper than it had against Villa.
Here was an opportunity for Rooney to fill his boots, or for Berbatov to play himself back to form and confidence, yet when the former made way for Michael Owen near the end, he had barely added anything to his penalty, and Berbatov’s assist proved to be his only telling contribution.
MANCHESTER UTD: Kuszczak, De Laet, Carrick, Vidic (Fletcher 60), Evra, Valencia, Scholes, Gibson, Obertan (Welbeck 70), Berbatov, Rooney (Owen 75). Subs not used: Foster, Anderson, Park, Fabio Da Silva. Booked: Gibson.
WOLVES: Hahnemann, Zubar, Mancienne, Elokobi, Hill, Halford (Jones 76), Foley, Castillo, Friend (Jarvis 61), Surman, Maierhofer (Iwelumo 54). Subs not used: Hennessey, Henry, Ebanks-Blake, Berra. Booked: Castillo.
Referee: Steve Bennett (Kent)
