Da Silva sent off

HT Manchester United 0 Wolves 0

Brazilian teenager Fabio Da Silva was sent off at Old Trafford, forcing Manchester United to soldier on with 10 men in their Carling Cup tie with Wolves.

Fabio left referee Peter Walton little option but to brandish the red card when he bundled Michael Kightly to the ground, although ironically United were a more dynamic outfit with 10 men.

Wolves had the better opportunities though, with former United midfielder David Jones bringing a good save out of Tomasz Kuszczak with the free-kick that accompanied Fabio’s exit.

Another former United player, David Jones, brought the first decent save of the match out of Kuszczak.

Gibson produced a few memorable efforts last term, including one at Hull on the final day of the season. However, the Irishman’s radar was slightly off as he fired a long-range effort over.

The game took a dramatic twist after half an hour when Kightly suddenly burst free after Stefan Maierholer had created big problems for the United defence.

It looked as though Fabio would get across to make the tackle but when the Brazilian teenager slipped, he stuck out an arm to send the Wolves wide-man sprawling.

Referee Peter Walton had little option other than to brandish a red card, leaving the youngster to trudge dejectedly to the tunnel.

Ferguson instantly replaced Macheda with Ritchie De Laet before Jones forced an excellent save out of Kuszczak, who was hoping to capitalise on Ben Foster’s poor performance at the weekend.

Ironically, United’s best spell of the game came when they were a man down. Owen couldn’t direct his header away from Hahnemann, whose attempted clearance a couple of minutes later was nearly charged down by Welbeck.

Michael Carrick had an effort blocked before Gibson fired over from 25 yards.

Jones chipped over when Neville’s miscued clearance provided him with a half-chance just before the break.