Putting everyone to the test, Erik ten Hag begins to experiment with his lineups

If Manchester United's season is going to turn on anything, then surely it is the three minutes of madness at Molineux that saw the best and the worst of them on a chaotic, cathartic night. This was a game United had bossed only to throw away. They produced one of their best performances of the season but managed to lay bare all of their flaws to concede a third goal in stoppage time. It was lamentable from Antony, tactically naive from many and poor from Andre Onana. It was a season in microcosm.

Ten Hag is already thinking about Man United's next game and updates on injuries

But maybe, just maybe, times are changing. For once the mistakes didn't cost United. They got up off the canvas to throw one more haymaker, in the form of a moment of magic from Kobbie Mainoo. Just as the 3,000 supporters in the away end were beginning to lament the soft centre of their team once again, the teenager from Stockport sent them wild. He turned away from one challenge, cut inside another, opened up a shooting angle and picked his spot. It was a quite brilliant goal from a midfielder who doesn't turn 19 until April.

And just as Ten Hag had suggested, United had begun to look like their old selves, albeit with a few of those flaws still on display. The Dutchman hadn't shied away from the pressure recently. His returning stars in January were going to be like "five or six new signings" and the squad he could pick at Wolves was "probably the strongest" since he had been at the club. At a time when the United manager was under pressure, he embraced it.

How Ten Hag needs last season's version of his £70million signing to be back permanently. The ability to salvage this season lay chiefly with Martinez and Casemiro and how close they get to recapturing their levels from 2022/23. On this evidence, albeit against a poor Wolves side, they might just have decisive contributions to make. It was telling they weren't on the pitch as the game unravelled. Max Kilman took advantage of some sloppy defending from a corner before Wolves somehow managed to launch a counterattack in the 95th minute.

Kobbie Mainoo receives pay rise as he proves his worth at Manchester United

The rookie's performance

Antony lost the ball softly and too many United players were caught too far up the pitch when protecting a lead. Onana didn't do enough to stop Neto's shot at his near post. But Molineux was silenced by Mainoo. There have been too many false dawns this season to get too carried away, but this was as positive a night as any this campaign. This result was built on more secure foundations than those dramatic wins against Brentford, Chelsea and Aston Villa and those unconvincing ones against Sheffield United, Luton and Fulham. They have to improve defensively, but this was encouraging for United and for Ten Hag, at a time when he really needed his luck to turn.