Ruben Amorim frustrated with referee as familiar Manchester United problem returns in Wolves defeat

Ruben Amorim felt goalkeeper Andre Onana was unfairly impeded as he conceded a direct corner to Matheus Cunha in Manchester United’s 2-0 defeat at Wolves.

United slumped to 14th in the Premier League table as they were beaten on Boxing Day in a match that saw Bruno Fernandes sent off 88 seconds into the second half, picking up his third red card of the season already.

Cunha scored the opening goal from direct from a corner, but Onana felt he was having his arm impeded by Matt Doherty.

The Red Devils conceded a similar goal a week ago when Altay Bayindir also felt he was obstructed when reaching for the ball as Son Heung-min scored for a direct corner on the way to a 4-3 win for Tottenham in the Carabao Cup quarter-finals.

“Yes, against Tottenham it's the same,” Amorim recalled. “Onana cannot go to the ball I think.”

Asked whether he thought Doherty had fouled Onana, Amorim replied: “I think he cannot go to the ball. He's trying to reach the ball and some guys are not even looking at the ball.

“But I don't want to focus on that. I think the good thing is we were near the goal, even with 10 men. That is a good thing, but we lost.

“Of course, when you lose, when we don't win, it's a step back. It was really hard with the sending off. The goal was similar against Tottenham. Then, we tried.

“Even with one less guy, we tried to. I think we were near something, but then Wolves scored the second one. Then, in the end, we tried everything and the transition was 2-0. For us, let's continue.”

Amorim admitted Fernandes had made things harder, as he picked up a yellow card almost immediately after the restart.

“It's so tough to win games in this league with 11 men,” he said. “With 10 men, it's more difficult. We have to focus on that.

“We lack a little bit of aggression. The sending off was really hard for us.”

Asked why Marcus Rashford was left out for a fourth straight game, Amorim said: “It's always the same reason it's going to be. We have to be the same professionals, the same guys, winning or losing. Losing, I have to be stronger. I will continue with my idea until the end.

“If he's not here, you can make your mind up [why].”