For more than 90 minutes, Erik ten Hag needed a break, but he couldn’t get one. Scott McTominay had an early goal disallowed.
Manchester United huffed and puffed unconvincingly as they tried to secure the win that would quell the rumblings about their manager’s position.
“Play like you mean it,” read a banner among the United fans and while this was a gritty performance, it lacked quality. One that really summed up United at this point; a team that still plays for their manager, but is simply not good enough.
But just when it looked like Ten Hag would end a miserable week with a rather dull goalless draw here at Craven Cottage, his captain Bruno Fernandes came to the rescue with an injury-time winner.
That was largely down to the tenacity of substitute Facundo Pellistri, who chased down Antonee Robinson close to the byeline in the opening minute of extra time. The ball ran loose to Tim Ream who hit the ball into Pellistri. Joao Palhinha was also unable to beat the young Uruguayan.
Bruno Fernandes celebrates scoring a late winner for Erik ten Hag’s side at Fulham after a nail-biting match at Craven Cottage
United’s players celebrated after Bruno’s big goal gave them all three points following an outright 3-0 defeat
The ball passed to Fernandes on the edge of the penalty area and then back to Pellistri and McTominay. It really was a dog’s dinner. Finally Fernandes got hold of him again, spinning back and forth on the edge of the penalty area before firing low towards the bottom corner. Bernd Leno got a hand on the ball, but could not keep it out.
The United players ran to their fans to celebrate. On the sidelines, Ten Hag threw his hands in the air. It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of a week that included humiliation at the hands of Manchester City and Newcastle, he will accept it. This game was about the result and not the performance.
However, the Dutchman knows that his team has to be much more convincing. There was an element of their last three wins before this against Brentford, Sheffield United and Copenhagen, and here was another about a rather forgettable encounter.
Harry Maguire summed up United’s fighting performance, recovering from an early blow to the head and leading the defensive effort. Aaron Wan-Bissaka also impressed in his first start since mid-September.
But when the defenders are your best players, you know things aren’t going so well. United have created many nice patterns again with their deaths, but there is a chronic lack of ideas and penetration in this team.
Their problems worsened before they were kicked out when Marcus Rashford was ruled out with a leg injury suffered in training after failing a late fitness test.
Given that Ten Hag revealed on the eve of this match that Rashford had been reprimanded – and apologized – for celebrating his birthday in a city center nightclub following last Sunday’s Manchester derby defeat, it called out the question that it might have been deleted.
“I think we should close that case, I’ve said everything about it,” the United boss replied. “He was on a trip with us, but he didn’t make it. We tested him, but he is not fit.’
With Casemiro out of action for several weeks due to a hamstring injury suffered during the dismal Carabao Cup defeat to Newcastle in midweek and Raphael Varane still only fitting the bench, it was another setback that Ten Hag could well have done without. Wan-Bissaka was at least able to make his first start back from injury, and exciting teenager Kobbie Mainoo returned to the bench after injuring his ankle in pre-season.
Fulham boss Marco Silva recalled former United player Andreas Pereira, Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz making his first Premier League start.
United had a goal disallowed in the first half after Harry Maguire was offside and adjudged to be interfering with play
Scott McTominay thought he had scored from Alejandro Garnacho’s cross, but after a four-minute VAR review the goal was disallowed
Maguire also received medical attention twice for a head injury, but was able to play the full 90 minutes and performed well
Things seemed to have gone from bad to worse for Ten Hag within moments of kick-off when Maguire challenged Muniz and appeared to accidentally take a shoulder to the jaw. The England defender required several minutes of treatment while Varane warmed up just in case.
Maguire was able to continue and he was involved in the main talking point of the first half in the seventh minute as United won a free-kick close to the Fulham goal.
Christian Eriksen floated the ball to the back post, where Rashford’s replacement Alejandro Garnacho sent it back across for the unmarked McTominay to head home from close range. McTominay drove away to celebrate what would have been his fourth goal in five games for United, but VAR was already looking at Maguire’s involvement.
Jarred Gillet ruled the United defender was offside and had prevented Muniz from reaching Garnacho as they became entangled in the penalty area. After a few minutes of deliberation, referee John Brooks was advised to go to the monitor while Ten Hag anxiously chewed his gum, and from that moment it was clear that McTominay’s effort would be disallowed.
There wasn’t much else to talk about in a first half that lacked quality. It was summed up when Harry Wilson and Alex Iwobi shot high at the United fans behind Andre Onana’s goal, only to be outdone by Diogo Dalot with an even worse effort that found the home side. Fernandes tamely aimed another effort from 20 yards into the hands of Leno.
There was little quality on display during a dull match as Fulham’s Alex Iwobi (centre) shot over when well placed
Andre Onana made some important saves in the second half as United came under occasional pressure from the hosts
Fulham threatened twice in the minutes before half-time but Pereira took a heavy knock in the box and allowed Eriksen to come back and block, before Willian cut inside and curled a shot narrowly wide of the far post.
The Brazilian was also on the receiving end of two counter-attacks early in the second half, but saw his cutback intercepted by Wan-Bissaka and then shot wide from a promising position.
But Fulham had their tails up and United were suddenly on the ropes. Onana made an unconventional save to deny Wilson’s long-range effort after Garnacho evaded a challenge with Iwobi, and the Cameroon keeper punched away Palhinha’s effort moments later.
Alejandro Garnacho looked dangerous, but missed the end product and also received a yellow card in the second half due to a late tackle
Antony struggled on the other flank and was taken off the field for youngster Facundo Pellitri just after the hour mark
The result gives Erik ten Hag some breathing space after consecutive defeats at home against Manchester City and Newcastle
Garnacho was shown a yellow card for fouling Timothy Castagne after messing up an unnecessary back heel, as Antony had done in the first half. The latter was replaced by Pellistri in the 64th minute after another infuriatingly ineffective performance.
Pellistri threw a shot at Leno, Iwobi fired another effort high into the stands and Muniz left in tears after sustaining an injury.
Ten Hag sent on Mason Mount and Antony Martial in an attempt to grab the win and Leno was eventually forced to make a remarkable save as he pushed away Fernandes’ free-kick.
But he could not deny the United captain again as he applied the crucial finish in extra time.