Former Manchester United defender Paul Parker has questioned Matheus Cunha’s performance against Wolves, convinced the forward ‘didn’t want to score’ against his former side.
Cunha left Molineux in a £62.5million deal during the summer transfer window, starting against his former club for the first time on Monday night.
United laboured against the side rock bottom of the Premier League but an improved second-half performance saw them run out 4-1 winners, moving them back up to sixth in the Premier League.
Their first-half opener came in almost comical circumstances with Cunha intercepting a back pass from Wolves midfielder Andre. Instead of shooting for goal, the Brazil international looked for Bruno Fernandes, playing the ball behind the United skipper.
Fernandes slipped as he tried to recover the ball, eventually getting it back under control before shooting, with Sam Johnstone getting a hand to it but not enough to keep it out.
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Cunha registered eight shots on goal on Monday night but former United full-back Parker was not convinced by his performance.
Parker believed the former Wolves star lacked his usual aggression against his former employers and wanted to come away ‘not offending anybody’ back in the Black Country.
‘Well, I just think in certain ways, he looked a little bit embarrassed to be there,’ Parker, told Metro via CasinoBernie.
‘He looked like he didn’t really want to offend Wolves. Because there wasn’t that extra bit of aggression from him to get that little bit of a burst, that fight to try and get on the end of the ball.
‘When we look at the goal, he passed the ball back to Fernandes when he could have taken it on himself. And Fernandes somehow managed to still score. I mean, it was a really scruffy, ugly goal.
‘But Cunha could have taken it on himself and he seemed like he didn’t want to score.
‘He never shouted for fouls or anything, when normally he does shout for fouls.
‘So I just think that all he wanted to do was come away unscathed, not offend anybody, and if United were to win, sometimes he looked like he didn’t want to be on the score sheet.’
Cunha spent two-and-a-half years at Wolves, scoring 15 Premier League goals in his final season at the club. Wolves have endured a thoroughly miserable campaign since his exit, taking just two points from their opening 15 games, already eight points from safety with relegation seemingly looming even before the halfway stage of the season.
Parker added: ‘It’s always difficult to play against mates or anything like that in football when you go back to your old club.
‘But for me, he really showed Wolves a bit of respect, to be perfectly honest, the way he played.’