Mystery as Man Utd striker Marcus Rashford dropped for disciplinary reasons and benched for visit to Wolves

MARCUS RASHFORD was dropped for Manchester United's trip to Wolves following disciplinary action from the club.

Bu the England international then came off the bench to score the winner as United's 1-0 victory saw them leapfrog Tottenham into the top four.

The 25-year-old had been expected to start on the left for the Red Devils at Molineux following back-to-back goalscoring appearances against Burnley and Nottingham Forest.

But he was benched for the first half before coming on at half-time after manager Erik ten Hag confirmed there had been "internal disciplinary" action.

The Dutchman had refused to reveal why Rashford had been disciplined.

He said of Rashford's absence: "Internal discipline. No details. Our rules. Now [we] focus on the game.

"He is in very good shape and nobody can play every game.”

Rashford later revealed he was dropped after turning up late to a team meeting.

Speaking to BT Sport, he admitted he had overslept.

Before the game, stunned fans took to social media desperate to find out why the in-form star had been dropped.

But they were split on whether ten Hag had made the right decision.

One said: "Marcus Rashford is amongst the most in-form players in the league but if he needs to be punished for being late to a pre-match meeting then ETH has my full support.

"Doesn’t matter who you are or how good you are."

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One remarked: "So Marcus Rashford is on the bench due to internal disciplinary action, according to Erik ten Hag.

"There always seems to be some drama around our players."

Another chimed in: "Huhhhhhhh!?"

United moved into fourth place after their victory at Molineux.

The Red Devils ended the year in the final Champions League place.

Wolves, however, failed to lift themselves out of the drop zone in Julen Lopetegui's first match at Molineux.

Before the match, Man United boss ten Hag said: "It’s their first home game [under new manager Julen Lopetegui] but you don’t look too much at the opponent.

"We have a lot of respect for them.

"They have a good team, good players and they had a good win against Everton.

"And they will be motivated and confident about it, but we have to play our game and make our own game.

"That demands a huge focus and huge effort to get the right result if we want that.

"It’s about that willingness - we want to win and we want to finish this year with a win so we have to put everything in we have.''