Lisandro Martinez's deflected shot earned Manchester United a 1-0 victory at Fulham.
TV Info - Broadcasters
A match lacking in quality chances was settled by a huge slice of fortune when Martinez's strike from 30 yards deflected off Sasa Lukic and looped over Bernd Leno in the Fulham goal.
It represented the only shot on target for Ruben Amorim's men, who otherwise had failed to really hurt their opponents, although Amad had a second ruled out in stoppage time, with the goal overturned after a VAR review for offside.
Fulham, in fairness, had created little themselves until Joachim Andersen's thumping header was stunningly cleared off the line by substitute Toby Collyer in the closing stages.
Victory lifts United up to 12th, while Fulham's hopes of muscling their way into the conversation for European football took a blow, and they remain 10th.
| Position Pos | Club | Played Pl | GD | Points Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 |
Fulham
FUL
|
23 | +3 | 33 |
| 11 |
Brentford
BRE
|
23 | +2 | 31 |
| 12 |
Man Utd
MUN
|
23 | -4 | 29 |
| 13 |
Crystal Palace
CRY
|
23 | -4 | 27 |
| 14 |
West Ham
WHU
|
23 | -16 | 27 |
How the match unfolded
United mustered just one shot in a first half that Fulham edged. Alex Iwobi was the liveliest player and twice stung the palms of Andre Onana, while Raul Jimenez tried his luck with a couple of efforts that cleared the crossbar.
The second half followed a similar pattern, although there were some United fans who thought Bruno Fernandes' 20-yard free-kick had nestled in the goal, when in reality it found the side-netting.
But it was the visitors who struck the telling blow when Martinez tried his luck from range and saw his attempt cruelly loop over Leno.
Fulham thought they had an equaliser when Andersen's header looked destined to find the back of the net, only for Collyer to make a sublime clearance off the line.
Amad then saw his strike late on chalked off after the goal was awarded on-pitch, but overturned following a VAR review, with the in-form Ivorian adjudged to be offside in the build-up.
Iwobi a rare bright spark as Fulham falter
There was very little to get the home faithful off their feet in a first half badly lacking in quality and composure. One notable exception was Iwobi, who already has his highest goals tally ever for a single Premier League campaign, with seven.
Playing as one of three forwards behind Jimenez, the former Arsenal and Everton man kept finding little pockets of space and put United's defenders on the back foot.
With a little more composure, one of his two first-half efforts might have yielded more than a couple of ticks in the shots-on-target column.
Iwobi was a little more quiet in the second half and, frustratingly for Marco Silva, his side did not really create anything until after United took the lead, with Andersen's header preceding Rodrigo Muniz firing over inside the penalty area.
The Cottagers return to league action next weekend against in-form Newcastle United needing a positive result to get their quest for European football next season back on track.
Huge slice of luck wins it for visitors
There were cries of "attack, attack, attack" from the away end at Craven Cottage – where United remain unbeaten in nine Premier League visits – during a first half that produced little for the highlight reels.
But the truth is, those calls were seldom heeded as United struggled to lay a glove on their opponents as some familiar frailties were exposed in attack.
Amorim's preference to employ a 3-4-3 formation has been well documented but again here there was a lack of ideas and a lack of quality on display from the men in red.
Some credit for that, of course, must be given to Fulham, who were typically well drilled and organised – hallmarks of Silva's Craven Cottage tenure.
So, it was kind of fitting that they won the game courtesy of a bit of a helping hand from the luckless Lukic, whose touch completely affected the spin and trajectory of the ball.
At this point of proceedings, a win is a win for Amorim, whose start to life at United has not exactly been sparkling, but the Portuguese will be desperate to get more of a tune out of his team going forward, with Crystal Palace the visitors to Old Trafford next Sunday.
Club reports
Fulham report | Man Utd report
Next PL fixtures
Key facts
Man Utd have won each of their last eight Premier League away matches against Fulham. Indeed, tonight’s win was just their third across their last 20 league matches in London (D5 L12), with all three victories in this period coming at Craven Cottage (also 2-1 in November 2022 & 1-0 in November 2023).
Fulham are winless in their last five Premier League home matches (D4 L1) since a 3-1 win over Brighton at the start of December. Indeed, this was just the second time they’ve failed to score on home soil in the top flight this season (0-0 v Southampton in December).
Three of Man Utd’s last four 1-0 wins in the Premier League have come against Fulham with goals scored in the 78th minute or later.
Man Utd (P18 W10 D8) are one of just four Premier League sides who are yet to lose a match in all competitions this season when going 1-0 up, alongside Liverpool (23), Arsenal (22) and Newcastle (15).