Scott McTominay Describes Manchester United Shock at 'Strange' Defeat to Wolves

Manchester United midfielder Scott McTominay has called Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers a "strange night" and said the players were left scratching their heads as to how they lost at Molineux.

McTominay opened the scoring but couldn't prevent 10-man United from falling at Wolves for the second time in a fortnight, and he described the visitors' disbelief at the end result:

The Scotland international's outside-the-box finish powered United ahead early on, but Ashley Young's red card opened the way for Chris Smalling's own-goal decider after Diogo Jota equalised on 25 minutes.

McTominay said:

"It was a strange night. I was sat with the boys in the changing room thinking: 'How have we not won that game?'

"But goals change games and we were so unfortunate tonight. We played so well in the first half an hour and we didn't quite react as well to their goal as we normally would do.

"For the first hour we were in good nick. We were looking forward, we had so many chances, and the game just changed so quick."

The Red Devils have lost three of their last four games after suffering only one defeat in their first 17 matches under manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. Tuesday's result leaves them fifth in the Premier League, level on points with fourth-place Tottenham Hotspur but two behind Arsenal in third.

Despite the sour feeling around their most recent loss, the fixture saw a career highlight for United academy product McTominay, per Sky Sports Statto:

There was little arguing with Young's sending off after the England veteran was shown United's fifth and final booking, with the team losing their discipline following a promising first 20 minutes.

McTominay acknowledged Young's dismissal was a key juncture in the clash:

"I thought we handled it quite well, but it's never easy to go down to 10 men and they can switch the ball and keep it. 

"It was difficult to get pressure on the ball like we did in the first 25 minutes. I did think we started so well tonight and our intentions were clear.

"The way we set out to press them, and they were panicking in the first half whenever they got the ball. It's a difficult one to take, but one we'll reflect on and come back better (for) in the future."

Though a surprising turnaround, Wolves standing up to the big guns is no new thing this season, having also notched wins over Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool this term, as illustrated by OptaJoao:

It's the second time in as many meetings that Nuno Espirito Santo's side have beaten Solskjaer's men 2-1 at home. Wolves also also knocked them out of the FA Cup quarter-finals on 16 March:

United will temporarily turn their attentions to the UEFA Champions League on Wednesday as they prepare to host Barcelona in the first leg of their quarter-final fixture.