MANCHESTER: Wolverhampton Wanderers manager Nuno Espirito Santo said the defeat against Manchester United is a "tough one to take" as his side did so well throughout the match.
Marcus Rashford struck a goal in second-half stoppage-time to earn Manchester United a 1-0 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers here on Wednesday and moved them to second in the table.
"It hurts a lot, especially when you work so hard, but football is that, it goes both ways. It's what we did in the game which is important. Of course, it's a tough one to take, but we will take it and go to the next one. It was a tough game, but I think we started well," the club's official website quoted Santo as saying.
"In the first-half, we created situations and created some chances. We combined well and did well in the attack, and sometimes we should have finished better the actions, but we created good offensive situations. In the second-half, we were very organised and didn't allow too many chances to a tough team, until the last moment, unfortunately. It's cruel, but it's the game," he added.
This was Wolves' last match of 2020 and the club is currently placed in the 12th position on the Premier League table with 21 points. Having extended their unbeaten league run to nine matches, Manchester United are now just two points behind table-toppers Liverpool.
Further praising his side's performance, Santo said the team showed a lot of character in the match.
"We have to know it requires focus to the last moment, but we did a good game. We were a threat and it's disappointing in the end and a tough one to take. But the effort of the boys was amazing and the answer of the team was very good. The players that had only one day to recover did brilliant and showed a lot of character. It's too bad that we didn't take something, but the attitude and the work was amazing," he said.