In the “one step forward, one step back” world that Manchester United currently live in, they took a step in the right direction against Wolves at Molineux.
Whether this is significant or not remains to be seen.
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After all, a big win over Crystal Palace nine days ago was followed by a disastrous draw with third-placed West Ham.
Previously, a three-match winning streak had been followed by three games without a win, culminating in a home defeat to an Everton side reduced to 10 men in less than 15 minutes.
A 4-1 rout on Monday night. Ruben Amorim's side have not achieved the best results in the Premier League since he arrived at the club 13 months ago.
United's 27 shots were the best in the Premier League under the Portuguese coach. They have led games longer this season than they have in the entire 2024/25 campaign.
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Still, Amorim felt it necessary to add a caveat, citing Wolverhampton's lack of points on the pitch and the rebellious atmosphere off it.
“This is a specific case,” he said. “We are faced with a team that is really struggling.
“You can feel it in any situation in the game.
“This is a really difficult moment for Wolverhampton, both for the team and for the club. We took advantage of this.”
That's why Amorim felt United risked missing out on a significant chance to climb into the top six and be overshadowed by teams in the race for Champions League qualification.
New Wolves boss Rob Edwards felt his side played the way he wanted in the final 15 minutes of the first period. They also scored their first goal in 540 minutes through Jean-Ricner Bellegarde.
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This was not the scenario Amorim envisioned. And certainly not the one he wanted that evening when Sir Jim Ratcliffe came to watch and was pictured chatting animatedly with director of football Jason Wilcox in the directors' box.
He told his players as much before leaving to sit in the away bench alone with his thoughts before United reappeared early in the second half.
“We should have finished this half differently,” he said. “At half-time they realized we had everything to win the game.
“If you really need a distraction when you look at Everton, it was three points. We could have picked up two more points against West Ham. Look at the table. Look at the situation. Look at everything.
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“We needed to win the second half. The result didn't matter.”
Reviewing the game for Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher praised the performance but said: “We're guessing a bad result is on the way.”
He is not alone in this opinion. United have only kept one clean sheet in the Premier League so far – against Sunderland at Old Trafford on 4 October. Do they have one loss out of nine or two wins out of six?
Having failed to take advantage of the opportunity to go second, twice and fifth, they are now sixth. If results go their way they could finish fourth after the game against Bournemouth on December 15th. They might as well return to the bottom half of the table.
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Andoni Iraola's men have two points from their last six matches but have won 3-0 on each of their last two visits to Old Trafford.
Nothing seems certain at Manchester United at the moment, including player availability.
Amorim thought Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt would be fit to play on Monday after missing the match against West Ham with a minor injury. He was wrong. The manager now says he cannot be sure when De Ligt will be fit.
United are continuing to hold talks with the respective national associations of Morocco, Ivory Coast and Cameroon, which Amorim says is a “good sign” but says he “doesn't know” whether Noussair Mazraoui, Amad Diallo and Brian Mbeumo will be cleared to play against Bournemouth before they head to the Africa Cup of Nations.
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“Let’s wait until midweek,” Amorim said.
Asked what the move to sixth means, he added: “Nothing. It's always the same feeling. We need to score more points. But that's in the past, let's focus on the future.”
Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim [Getty Images]
Mount leaves its mark
Mason Mount's goal means he has now scored three goals in the last four games he has started.
The England star is now beginning to make the sustained impact envisaged when he joined from Chelsea for £55m in 2023 before injuries halted his progress.
It also means that Amorim has options given that main striker Benjamin Sesco is currently injured and Mbeumo will be leaving the team at some point in the near future.
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“If you compare his past at Chelsea, he has great qualities,” Amorim said.
“He knows how to defend. He can attack and the quality of his touch on the ball is really good.”
“This is not a surprise for me. But of course we need to take care of him.
“But he’s going to build it and he’s going to be very important to our club.”
