Park stars as United claim late win over Wolves

Park Ji-Sung scored a stoppage-time winner as Manchester United marked Sir Alex Ferguson’s 24th anniversary as manager with a dramatic 2-1 victory over Wolves on Saturday.

The day was tinged with disappointment for Ferguson, who saw his decision to start injury-plagued Owen Hargreaves back-fire as the England international lasted less than five minutes on his first start since September 2008.

But, aside from that frustration, Ferguson clearly had the football gods on his side as, not for the first time in the last 24 years, his team performed heroics deep into injury time at Old Trafford.

With time ticking down, Park gathered Darren Fletcher’s cross-field pass, cut into the area, leaving Stephen Ward in his wake, before scoring with a hard, low shot into the bottom-right corner.

Park had earlier struck with six seconds to go in the first half, somewhat against the run of play, but the goal again owed everything to Fletcher, who finally found a way through the Wolves’ back line as he cut in from the left and threaded a perfect pass into the area.

The assist split the Wolves defence, which was slow to react, as the South Korean collected the ball and calmly slotted home from eight yards.

It was the stroke of good fortune Ferguson had been looking for because the half had hardly gone according to plan after his shock decision to start Hargreaves, yet their lead only lasted until the 65th minute, when substitute Sylvan Ebanks-Blake levelled with his first touch of the ball.

Matt Jarvis started the equalising move with a pass from the left that found Nenad Milijas, whose mis-hit shot was controlled by former United trainee Ebanks-Blake, who turned and swept in from six-yards.

It looked destined to be an anniversary to forget for Ferguson, who had already seen Hargreaves limp down the tunnel holding his hamstring after hurting himself as he put in an early cross.

The ensuing re-shuffle saw substitute Bebe slot into the wide right position and the youngster soon pounced on Ward’s mis-control, working his way into the area and sending in a shot that was blocked by Richard Stearman.

Wolves, however, grew in confidence as the half progressed, especially Jarvis, who was giving Wes Brown a torrid time down the right flank under the gaze of watching England manager Fabio Capello.

Finally, United strung a series of passes together, with Park racing onto the end of a sweeping move and forcing Marcus Hahnemann into a smothering save at the near post.

Minutes before the opener, Wolves should have been ahead, with the increasingly impressive Jarvis curling in a beautiful left-wing cross and Stephen Hunt missing the ball by inches at the far post.

After the restart, United looked content to hold onto the ball, creating only sporadic opportunities, such as a Javier Hernandez shot in the 71st minute that Hahnemann spilled around his post.

Park’s late moment of glory earned a precious win for United, but things could have been much worse for the home team had Steven Fletcher not fired over the bar from Michael Mancienne’s pass in the 79th minute.