Talking points following United 2 Wolves 0

Just under a week on from the defeat at West Ham - the second of back-to-back losses on the road in the Premier League - the Reds hit back on our return to Old Trafford to register an important three points in the top-four race. 

Erik ten Hag's side were dominant for much of the proceedings, and it was goals in each half from Anthony Martial and Alejandro Garnacho which ensured we took the spoils.

Following the triumph, we've picked out seven of the key talking points from a productive afternoon at the Theatre of Dreams...

REDS WITHOUT RASHFORD

For just the second time this season - after April's 2-0 victory at Nottingham Forest - a Manchester United matchday squad in the Premier League did not feature Marcus Rashford. As Ten Hag suggested in Friday's pre-match press conference, the forward was "more than doubtful" for Saturday's outing at Old Trafford, and that uncertainty seemed justified when our no.10 wasn't named on the team sheet an hour before kick-off. The Reds, however, managed to get the three points in Marcus's absence, although a lingering concern is perhaps how long the Reds' top scorer this season could be out for. While we await a further update from Erik, there was positive injury news on the afternoon at Old Trafford, as Raphael Varane and Garnacho returned to action from their recent lay-offs to good effect.

WELCOME GUESTS

As always, there were several familiar faces among those in attendance. It was great to see our former striker and manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer back at the Theatre of Dreams for the first time since his tenure in the Reds' dugout. The Norwegian took the time to pose for pictures and sign autographs as he reunited with the supporters in M16 before kick-off, while at times during the encounter, his name was audible around the ground via several favourite songs on the terraces. Ole will no doubt be delighted with the result, as will ex-club captain Antonio Valencia, who also watched on from the directors' box.

FIRST-HALF OPENER

The importance of an early goal in an encounter can never be underestimated, and that's something Ten Hag and co will tell you off the back of our recent outings. United created a handful of good opportunities to open the scoring in this month's defeats at Brighton and West Ham, but didn't capitalise, and ultimately went on to be beaten in both matches. This time around, the Reds made the most of our best period in the first half, as Martial finished off a handsome move to open the scoring and set us on the road to victory.

LOVE FOR GARNACHO

The youngster wasted little time in adding impetus upon his return to the pitch for the first time since March. The United faithful inside the stadium recognised the impact Alejandro has already had in his young career by singing his name while he was warming up to come on, and our no.49 then gave them something to celebrate upon his introduction, scoring a stoppage-time clincher to make sure of the three points. The goal was our 100th across the 58 games we've played across all competitions this season.

ANOTHER OLD TRAFFORD SHUTOUT

Our impressive slate of results at Old Traffordthis campaign has very much been built on a solid record in defending our own goal. Only Barcelona (two) have conceded fewer goals than United (eight) at home across Europe's top-five leagues in 2022/23, and keeping Wolves out means we've now recorded six clean sheets on the bounce in Premier League matches at Old Trafford. We last recorded as many in a row between May and October 2017, while we most recently achieved such a run in a single season from December 2009 to March 2010.

ERIK'S RECORD-BREAKING WIN

While the be-all and end-all of securing all three points this afternoon was to boost our hopes of Champions League football for next season, the triumph also brought up a milestone for Erik's first season in charge. Today's victory was our 38th of the campaign across all competitions, more than any Reds manager has achieved in a debut term at the helm, surpassing Jose Mourinho's tally of one less in 2016/17. Here's hoping we can add four more to that total over the coming weeks!

THE TOP-FOUR PICTURE

The win sees the Reds go level on points with third-placed Newcastle, behind the Magpies only on goal difference, after their 2-2 draw with Leeds United in the day's early kick-off. Fifth-placed Liverpool (now four points behind United having also played 35 games) travel to Leicester City on Monday evening, while the only other team who can still mathematically overtake us, Brighton (11 points back from us with two games in hand), play away to Arsenal on Sunday. Tottenham are now out of the running for Champions League football next season, with their 2-1 defeat at Villa Park this afternoon creating an unassailable nine-point gap to Ten Hag's side, with only two games left in their schedule.