Manchester United ‘s winning run came to an end against Fulham on Saturday, with Alex Iwobi scoring a stoppage-time winner for Marco Silva’s side after Harry Maguire ‘s late leveller for the hosts.
United left things late in the reverse fixture before the turn of the year, with Bruno Fernandes firing home a last-minute winner. Once again, there was an open but goalless first half this time with both teams hitting the woodwork, but it was Fulham who struck first through Bassey.
The hosts went into the game without a number of senior players, but recent results had remained impressive. The loss of Rasmus Hojlund during the week robbed them of a focal point, though, and they paid for it for chunks of the game before Maguire looked to have saved a point with a late goal of his own, but it wasn’t enough.
Erik ten Hag won’t have much time to rally his squad after Iwobi’s dramatic winner, who have an FA Cup meeting with Nottingham Forest in midweek. After that comes another huge test, with a Manchester Derby against their noisy neighbours.
The first chance of the game went the way of the visitors, but it didn’t cause Andre Onana too much trouble. Even so, the space afforded to ex-United midfielder Andreas Pereira won’t have delighted Erik ten Hag.
Fulham had chances to get themselves in front, as was the case in the reverse game. Alex Iwobi had two good openings, only to twice fire wide of Onana’s right-hand post.
It took United the best part of half an hour to threaten, with Harry Maguire lashing a shot over the top, but they were inches away soon after when Diogo Dalot’s long-range effort beat Bernd Leno only to clip the foot of the post. Fulham responded in kind, with Rodrigo Muniz striking the woodwork in a first half full of chances.
After the break, though, Fulham got their noses in front when Bassey’s powerful effort gave Andre Onana no chance. They had chances to extend their lead, with Harry Wilson firing narrowly wide, and Maguire made them pay for their failure to get a second, but there was still time for Iwobi to deliver his even later winner.
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1. Fulham’s shuffling pays dividends
Not only did Fulham change their centre-backs from the defeat against Aston Villa, but they switched things up in the centre of midfield as well. One of these changes was enforced, with Joao Palhinha suspended, but the others allowed Marco Silva to invite a few players to prove themselves.
Those players were Tosin Adarabioyo and Calvin Bassey at the back, with Harrison Reed and Sasa Lukic in the middle. The visitors saw a good amount of the ball in the middle, with Iwobi supporting Lukic and Reed, and could easily have gone ahead inside 20 minutes.
Bassey might not have been introduced as a goal threat, given he was still awaiting his first goal for Fulham, but few were complaining when he smashed home. There was some good fortune about the ball rebounding to him off Timothy Castagne, but his finish was unstoppable.
2. Maguire’s lucky escape
Fulham picked up more bookings than United before the break, but the hosts’ yellow might have been a red on another day. Harry Maguire was very late on Sasa Lukic, catching the midfielder a little high and leaving him in a heap on the ground, and will have been grateful to only be booked.
With Lisandro Martinez and Luke Shaw out injured, United’s defensive options are limited. The last thing they’d have wanted is to lose Maguire for a number of matches, so the colour of the card was good news for Ten Hag as well.
The on-field decision was checked by VAR, but Maguire’s card wasn’t upgraded. That left the England international free to continue for the home side.
Marco Silva’s frustration will have only grown with the clock ticking towards 90. The decision to leave Maguire on looked more decisive than ever when the defender kept himself onside to break Fulham hearts, only for Silva’s men to have the last word and give the visiting manager a valuable result.
3. United still working out their Hojlund-less plan
With Rasmus Hojlund injured, and Anthony Martial already out of commission, Erik ten Hag was left with a choice. Would be make the closest thing possible to a like for like change, with Marcus Rashford moving inside and Antony returning, or would he do something different.
In the end, it was the latter. Reports during the week indicated United had trained with a fluid front three, and so it proved, with Omari Forson making his debut in a three-man attack with Rashford and Alejandro Garnacho – the trio signed at a cost of just £325,000 between them.
All three spent time through the middle, with Garnacho’s pace utilised as he forced Adarabioyo into the book in the first half, while Forson had one snapshot blocked by a team-mate as he struggled to make too much of an impact. Interestingly, though, it was Eriksen rather than Antony who took his spot.
Hojlund will also be absent in midweek, forcing Ten Hag to decide whether to stick or twist with Saturday’s combo. He knows something will need to change, though, even if it’s not the personnel.
4. Casemiro concern
We saw Casemiro at his best and his worst against Fulham. The positives came in the form of his distribution, with more than one effortless ball from deep to get the home fans excited, but the biggest negative came with the gaps he left for the visitors to exploit through the running of Iwobi and Pereira from midfield.
The Brazilian, who swapped shirts with compatriot Muniz at the break, saw his afternoon come to an end not long after. A clash of heads with Harrison Reed saw him withdrawn in a double change, with less than an hour on the clock.
If he was concussed, though, it could force Ten Hag’s hand for the midweek cup game against Nottingham Forest. That list of absentees is growing by the day.
5. Brailsford given plenty to feed back to Ratcliffe
Sir Jim Ratcliffe has been more present than the Glazer family at Old Trafford, but he wasn’t present on Saturday afternoon. Instead it was Sir Dave Brailsford in attendance to cast his eye over United’s performance.
Ratcliffe will hold talks with Erik ten Hag at the end of the season, but there’s plenty of football to be played before then. Brailsford’s past in cycling suggests he’ll have had his eye out for areas where improvement is possible in the shorter and longer term, and his relationship with Ratcliffe indicates these will be fed back to the billionaire.
There is plenty of mitigation, of course. Many teams would have struggled to deal with an injury list as lengthy as United’s, but this performance was one which showed the need for big improvements rather than marginal gains.
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Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
