Why Wolves have major FA Cup advantage over Watford after beating Man Utd

STOCK up on the tequila, Wembley is bracing itself for a Mexican wave and one Wolves player’s record at Wembley could go a long way to beating Watford in the semi-finals.

Posted Monday, March 18, 2019 by Dailystar.co.uk

More likely a wave of Mexicans if Wolves star Raul Jimenez carries on his heroics in the national stadium.

The Wolves striker is a hotter shot than his country's native tipple right now.

Jimenez tormented United with a powerful display of leading the line and then rocked them with a superbly taken 70th minute goal.

He's sparking something of a Wolves revolution back in his homeland – the club has 265,000 Facebook followers in Mexico compared to 112,000 over here. Jimenez also boasts over three million Twitter followers.

When strike partner Diogo Jota added a second seven minutes later the noisy home fans could sense a Wembley semi-final calling.

And Wembley is a happy hunting ground for Jimenez who has won both times he's been there.

He won an Olympic gold medal the first time back in 2012 when the Mexicans sprang a real shock and beat favourites Brazil 2-1 in the final.

Back in December he was there again when Wolves rocked Tottenham with a surprise 3-1 win.

Jimenez scored the opener for Wolves who continue their fine season under Nuno

Jimenez said: "I love Wembley. It's a stadium that has unbelievable memories for me.

"I am unbeaten there. I will keep doing my best and try to help the team to be in the final."

United can have no complaints – they were beaten by the better side on the day. But for a brilliant display by stand-in keeper Sergio Romero, Wolves could have had five.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's men just couldn't handle the pairing of Jimenez and Jota which has now produced each of Wolves' last six goals.

Add the relentless probing of Ruben Neves from midfield and Matt Doherty's darting runs and it all combined to make life extremely uncomfortable for Ole's boys.

Jimenez added: "We deserve this. We are fighting for our dream. I feel good, with a lot of confidence, we are like a big family.

"Together we can do very big things here - special things. We are looking forward to it."

"We want to fight on. Sometimes it's like we play better against the big teams, but we know we can do very good things against anyone. It is a very special feeling,"

It didn't feel quite so special for Romero who was one of the few United stars to emerge with real credit.

He kept it goalless at half-time with a great save from Jota and shortly after the break pulled out a superb flying tip-over to divert a Jimenez header away from the top corner.

He then denied Neves but eventually succumbed when Jimenez somehow managed to crash the ball home on the turn despite having three United defenders all around him.

The visitors were always going to be struggling once that happened and when it was quickly followed by a second, some Reds fans started to make their way to the exits.

Jota went on a superb run after a hashed clearance from Luke Shaw and when the defender tried to make amends, he was put on his backside with a deft burst of pace.

Marcus Rashford grabbed a late consolation and Victor Lindelof saw his red card overturned by VAR, but in the context of the whole game they really didn't matter one Jota.

WOLVES (3-5-2): Ruddy 7; Saiss 7, Boly 7, Coady 7; Doherty 7, Neves 8, Dendoncker 7, Moutinho 8, Jonny 7; Jota 8(Traore 86), JIMENEZ 9 (Costa 90).

Subs: Norris, Bennett, Cavaleiro, Gibbs-White, Vinagre.

Up next: Burnley (a), Premier League, Saturday March 30

MANCHESTER UNITED (4-4-2): Romero 8; Dalot 6, Lindelof 6, Smalling 6, Shaw 5; Herrera 6 (Pereira 71), Matic 6 (Matsa 86), Pogba 6, Lingard 5 (McTominay 86); Martial 5, Rashford 7.

Subs: De Gea, Jones, Rojo, Fred.

Up next: Watford (h), Premier League, Saturday March 30

Referee: Martin Atkinson 7

Star Player: RAUL JIMENEZ – United couldn't deal with him

Star Shocker: Luke Shaw – All over place for second goal