Former Chelsea and Aston Villa midfielder Andy Townsend has heaped praise on Kobbie Mainoo after Manchester United‘s 4-3 league win against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on Thursday (February 1).

The 18-year-old midfielder won three tackles with a 100% success rate, made six recoveries and two clearances, and won six duels. To top it all off, he scored in the seventh minute of stoppage time to hand his team a priceless away win.

Pedro Neto equalized for Wolves late in the game (90+5′), setting the stage for the crowning moment of Mainoo’s career so far. The young defensive midfielder received the ball in the attacking third, nutmegged a Wolves defender, and unleashed a curling right-footed shot into the far bottom right corner.

Speaking of the youngster’s performance, Townsend said on TalkSPORT:

“He’s [Kobbie Mainoo] 18 and he plays like a 28-year-old. Like he’s got the head on his shoulders of a 35-year-old player. He plays economically, he plays sensibly, he’s smart, he puts his foot in when he has to, he walks away from trouble, if he fouls someone he’ll pick him up…

“He does everything right for such a young boy. And I was absolutely thrilled for him last time when he got the goal. I’ve only seen him play, probably, four, five times. Every time I see this kid play, I think United have got a proper one here.”

Mainoo also scored in the last game he played before the Wolves fixture, netting in his team’s 4-2 FA Cup fourth-round win over Newport County on January 28. Overall, the teenager has made 15 senior appearances for the club since signing his first professional contract in May 2022.

Manchester United star says he was ‘fuming’ on the bench after Wolves’ late goal

Rasmus Hojlund said he was ‘fuming’ on the bench after seeing Manchester United concede a goal in stoppage time.

The Denmark international scored in six separate games before the win against Wolves this season, but United won only two of those matches. At Molineux, he scored and assisted a goal in the first half to give United a 2-0 lead.

Hojlund was brought off just seconds after Max Kilman’s 85th-minute goal halved Wolves’ deficit to make it 3-2. At a time when Manchester United had a slender one-goal lead, they committed a lot of players forward, leading Wolves to launch a deadly counterattack at the other end.

Pedro Neto finished off the move with a neat left-footed shot. Speaking of the goal from the Wolves winger, the 20-year-old Dane told TNT Sports, via BBC:

“We need to sort them situations out better. I was fuming on the bench of course. We need to do better in this situation. We turn it on again but we are happy.”

The win ensured Manchester United ended gameweek 22 in seventh place with 35 points.