Wolves 0 Manchester United 0 – What the stats reveal
We know Wolves’ draw with Manchester United in the FA Cup was not the most exciting of games.
But there are still some interesting stats to go over from whoscored.com – specialists in the in-depth analysis of detailed football data.
Ruddy easy for John
John Ruddy kept a clean sheet for Wolves – and it is no surprise.
After all, the 33-year-old was not forced into a single save by United.
The stand-in shot-stopper did not have to come out to claim a cross either.
Ruddy had 36 touches of the ball in this third-round clash – now going to a replay at Old Trafford, of course – and that was his night done.
Sergio Romero made a couple of strong saves for United, but it was the most straightforward of games for Ruddy.
Magnificent Moutinho
The match improved once Wolves brought on the big guns – Raul Jimenez, Joao Moutinho and Jonny Castro Otto.
And midfield magician Moutinho did not give the ball away once.
The Portuguese made 17 passes after coming on and all of them reached their target, giving him a 100 per cent pass success rate.
Of the starters, winger Pedro Neto was the most efficient with the ball.
An impressive 32 of his 34 passes reached their target, giving him a 94 per cent success rate.
Matt Doherty was the most wasteful of those who started, with 67 per cent.
Traore take-ons
Traore boasted quite the stat coming out of last week’s loss at Watford.
He took on his marker on 15 occasions at Vicarage Road, which was the most successful take-ons in a Premier League game since the collection of such data began in the 2006/07 season.
And against United, while not getting quite so high and being kept fairly quiet by his standards, the Spaniard enjoyed 10 successful dribbles.
Neto was next best in that regard for Wolves, with five.
Going wide
Traore and Neto made a fair amount of crosses, with Wolves coming up with 25 in total.
They spent the majority of time on the flanks too – 40 per cent of attacks on the left, 39 down the right and 21 through the middle.
The strikers, ultimately, were left a little isolated.
Benny Ashley-Seal only touched the ball 11 times before being substituted, and Raul Jimenez got on the ball a mere 30 times too in the second half.
Perhaps Wolves need to mix it up more against Newcastle, back in the league at Molineux on Saturday.
