Can Manchester United’s victory over Fulham salvage their season?
 Speaking about whether Manchester United’s victory over Fulham can comfort supporters following their worst start to a season since 1962, Rob Dawson talks about the topic.
- Alleviated some of the strain they had been experiencing lately as they won the early Premier League match on Saturday 1-0 against Fulham thanks to a goal from captain Bruno Fernandes in the ninetieth minute.
- Fernandes grabbed a loose ball on the boundary and fired a low, skidding shot inside the post as the game was about to end in a dull draw.
- ‘Bundesliga’, and other events (U.S.)
- Erik ten Hag, the manager, has been under fire following a run of consecutive 3-0 home losses in what has been United’s worst start to a season since 1962. A victory at Craven Cottage will help remove some of that strain.
- Even if the win was greatly anticipated, concerns about United’s future under the ‘Dutchman’ still exist following yet another lackluster performance.
- After a series of subpar performances in recent weeks, Manchester United was under pressure until Bruno ‘Fernandes’ scored a late winner.
- United moved up to sixth place in the league with 18 points from 11 games, ahead of the remaining games this weekend, after winning three straight close away.
- Fulham, who will feel unfortunate, were denied twice in the second half by outstanding stops from Andre Onana. Now, with 12 points, they are down in 14th place.
- Former Manchester United championship winners Gary Neville and Roy Keane have both criticized Fernandes in recent weeks, saying that after certain obnoxious performances, he ought to lose the armband.
- However, he responded when his team most needed it, punishing Fulham’s incapacity to clear their area with a clever spin and control before putting his shot past Bernd Leno.
- “Everyone knows the situation is not the best, we lost the last two games and it wasn’t the performances we wanted to give or the results but today it was a different game,” the player from Portugal stated.
- “We had to provide something unique, and we succeeded. It needs to boost our self-assurance, but we also need to realize that there is more we can accomplish and that the goal is to improve each time we play.”
- Now, Fulham has dropped its last four games versus United, which included three losses from the previous campaign.
- Manager Marco Silva remarked, “Really difficult for us to take, it’s the same old story.”
- “In general, we were the superior squad. However, we were punished after losing emotional control and committing three errors in ten seconds.”
- After seven minutes, Scott McTominay’s disallowed goal for United was the lone talking point of an uneventful first half.
- Alejandro Garnacho deflected Christian Eriksen’s lofted free kick across the box, and McTominay was there to smash the ball high into the net.
- However, United’s joy was ultimately short-lived as a result of a protracted VAR review, during which referee John Brooks consulted the monitor to rule out the goal on the grounds that Harry Maguire-who had initially been offside-had interfered with play.
- That was pretty much the whole of United’s attacking threat, with Bernd Leno easily save a meek effort by Fernandes.
- With one early shot saved and several threatening deliveries into the area, Willian was Fulham’s best player. Meanwhile, visiting goalie Onana made one save against Harry Wilson.
- The second half started off much the same as the first, but things quickly picked up, forcing Onana into two incredible stops in the space of a hectic minute.
- He first palmed away Wilson’s hard swerving attempt and then made a good reaction to block João Palhinha’s attempt. Then, when United’s defense buckled, Rodrigo Muniz headed a chance over.
- Fernandes’s well-timed intervention at least gave the visiting fans something to cheer about, even though a 0-0 draw would have done little to improve the United spirits.