Wolves v Manchester United player ratings: Sa 8, Costa 5; Antony 5, Rashford 8

England attacker comes off bench to score winner at Molineux after being dropped by manager Ten Hag

• 

  WOLVES RATINGS: Jose Sa 8: Excellent save after woeful Semedo back-pass had gifted chance to Garnacho in first half. Impressive performance from Wolves goalkeeper who did not look like he was going to be beaten until Rashford's winner. PA

• 

  Nelson Semedo 5: Experienced full-back made schoolboy error with back-pass falling perfectly at feet of Garnacho and needed keeper Sa to come to rescue. Earned first booking of match for dragging back Garnacho and struggled against young Madrid-born attacker. PA

• 

  Nathan Collins 8: Tasty early challenge on Casemiro had home crowd on feet. Produced brilliantly timed sliding tackle to prevent Martial getting on end of cross on half-hour mark. Blocked Antony shot from dangerous position just after break. Getty

• 

  Max Kilman 8: Lovely ball down left flank to set Bueno away in opening 10 minutes. Helped keep Martial’s impact down to a bare minimum as Wolves looked solid and organised at back right up until they were cut open by Rashford’s run and finish. Getty

• 

  Hugo Bueno 7: Looked like he might have big influence on proceedings in opening 20 minutes pushing on down left left but impact going forward waned as match went on. Decent defensively, though, and did well up against the dangerous Antony. Reuters

• 

  Ruben Neves 8: Captain almost caught out own keeper when deflection on Antony strike had Sa scrambling across goal. Lovely curling free-kick from distance in second half forced good save from De Gea. One beautiful first-time ball almost put Ait-Nouri through on goal late in last 15 minutes. PA

• 

  Matheus Nunes 6: Back in starting line-up, Portuguese midfielder kept things simple in possession. Bundled to floor by double challenge of Shaw and Fred in second half that should have earned Wolves free-kick in dangerous position after but somehow ignored by referee – much to home fans’ frustrations. AFO

• 

  Joao Moutinho 5: Must have thought chance was on to open scoring in first half only to be denied by fine Wan-Bissaka tackle. Quiet game in midfield and Wolves needed more from one of their key players. Getty

• 

  Hwang Hee-Chan 6: Buzzed around and showed nice turn of pace at times without much of a cutting edge or decent final product. Took central attacking role when Costa went off but not really type of player to lead line. Reuters

• 

  Daniel Podence 7: Scored in the Boxing Day win over Everton and was at centre of most good things Wolves produced going forward. Chopped down by Casemiro which handed free-kick opportunity to Neves after break. Getty

• 

  Diego Costa 5: Made himself room for chance in first half but could only fire off weak effort straight at De Gea. Failed to put Shaw – the left-back playing at centre half for United – under any pressure. Taken off at break, possibly injured, but might actually have benefited from crosses of second-half sub Traore. Getty

• 

  SUBS: Adama Traore (On for Costa 46’) 7: Straight into action with barnstorming run from one end of pitch to other that ended with good cross into box – but no attacker there to take advantage. Similar cross minutes later with same result. PA

• 

  Jonny (On for Semedo 64’) 5: Injury-prone Spaniard back for first game since early November was brushed aside by Rashford ahead of the United substitute scoring winner. AP

• 

  Rayan Ait-Nouri (On for Moutinho 72’) 6: Last-gasp match-winner against Everton last time out but opportunity to repeat those heroics here. Getty

• 

  Toti (On for Bueno 72’) 6: No chance to make impact after coming on. Raul Jimenez (On for Podence 84’) N/A. Denied late leveller when De Gear saved his injury-time header. Getty

• 

  MANCHESTER UNITED RATINGS: David De Gea 8: Up against a side who are struggling for goals and had lost their last three home league matches. Best save was just before hour mark from Neves free-kick. Top save from Jimenez in injury-time. Another clean sheet. AP

• 

  Aaron Wan-Bissaka 7: Another start, another game with a lot of action on the right. Doubts will remain about him but he had a satisfying afternoon as United made it eight wins from nine matches and he played an important role. Getty

• 

  Raphael Varane 8: Solid. Snuffed out Wolves’ attacks, tamed the roar at the start of the second half. When he plays, United win. PA

• 

  Luke Shaw 8: Playing in the centre of defence again and he was smarter than the players he was marking, anticipating and nicking the ball to thwart Wolves’ attacks. In attack, his balls towards the Wolves goal were mostly met by Casemiro. Reuters

• 

  Tyrell Malacia 7: Behind Garnacho on a youthful left side. Good ball back to Antony on late in first half. Two key late interceptions as Wolves tried to score. United weren’t great but secured a win. PA

• 

  Casemiro 7: Headed over in opening five minutes. Moved ball quickly forwards, found dangerous positions from set-pieces. Fortunate not to see yellow. Mopped up all danger and closed the game down. Reuters

• 

  Christian Eriksen 6: Early corner towards Casemiro led to threat in front of 31,658 (3,000 MUFC fans). Couldn’t find the killer pass and came off beofre hour mark as United tried different players to get ahead. AFP

• 

  Bruno Fernandes 6: 6 Dropped off defenders to pick up the ball in first half as United searched for an opening. Neat passes and flicks but couldn’t impact sufficiently on the game – until he set up Rashford’s opener. Late shot on target. AFP

• 

  Antony 5: Involved in the early pressure but too extravagant and losing possession put his team at risk. Had super heading opportunity to put team ahead just before break. Involved in second half after he’d sliced a shot. Better after the break. AFP

• 

  Alejandro Garnacho 5: Started on left in place of dropped to bench Rashford. Wasted an 11th minute chance after running behind his man. Should’ve buried a chance minutes later after Semedo mistake. More of a threat than the other strikers in the first half but needs to be sharper. He’ll have plenty of chances. Reuters

• 

  Anthony Martial 5: Little service in the first half as his side lacked edge in the final third. Like Antony, a clear chance with a header before half time. Ball stuck under his feet when he got it in the area. AFP

• 

  SUBS: Marcus Rashford (On for Garnacho 46’) 8: Dropped for an internal disciplinary reason. Quiet until his goal, when he was strong enough to hold opponents to stay on his feet and score. Super ball forward a minute later. Thought he’d scored a second but VAR correctly gave handball. Booked. PA

• 

  Fred (On for Eriksen 60’) 7: Fred 7 On for Eriksen on 58. Involved in four out of five Brazil World Cup games and been a sub since return. Brought another dimension. Smashed in a challenge. Booked, although might feel it was worth making the challenge as Wolves were attacking. Getty

• 

  Donny van de Beek (On for Martial 81’) N/A. Van de Beek NA On for Martial after 80. Two notable contributions to an 89th minute attack but then a poor ball forward on in injury time left Rashford fuming. Getty

• 

  Harry Maguire (On for Fernandes 90+2’) N/A. AP Anthony Elanga (On for Antony 90+2’) N/A.

Marcus Rashford produced the perfect response to being dropped by coming off the bench to score Manchester United's winner at Wolves on Saturday.

The England attacker had been left out at Molineux by manager Erik ten Hag after missing a team meeting due to sleeping in but came on at half-time and ended up scoring the only goal of the game 14 minutes from time.

It was Rashford's 11th goal of the season which sent United into the Premier League’s top four.

United have now lost just one of their last 15 games since a 6-3 derby humbling to Manchester City in October, with Ten Hag making his mark on and off the pitch at Old Trafford.

“It's good after the decision, Rashford came in. He was bright, he was lively and he scored a goal to give a good reaction. Everyone has to adhere to the rules and if you react like this, it is the right answer,” said Ten Hag.

“We were not that good in the first half. In my opinion the second half was better. Fred was winning second balls and linking play when he came on.

“In the first half, you analyse the game but sometimes things do not work as expected. Wolves did not create many chances and we did but you have to be sharp.

“I was not happy at half time and I told them with this attitude they will not win this game and everyone had to give 10 per cent more.”

You can see the player ratings from Saturday's game at Molineux in the gallery above. To move on to the next photo, click on the arrows or swipe if using a mobile device.