Manchester United took on Fulham at Old Trafford on Saturday in the Premier League, here’s five things we learned.
At Old Trafford on Saturday afternoon, Manchester United and Fulham collided in a disappointing game which Fulham won 2-1.
Despite chances on both sides, it was Fulham who opened the scoring through Calvin Bassey.
Harry Maguire then grabbed one back for United in the 88th minute as he converted a rebound from Bernd Leno spilling a shot.
Fulham won all three points in the 96th minute through an Alex Iwobi goal against the run of play. This led to what was a deserved win for the Cottagers.
Here are five things we learned…
Erik ten Hag has a real problem on his hands
The result on Saturday had been coming, with poor performances being ignored in the face of a run of wins.
Despite the winning streak lately, there was an underlying concern that the team weren’t playing well with Luton Town outplaying the Reds last week.
The performance was once again awful against Fulham and the loss is no less than deserved for that soulless display by United.
Sir Jim Ratcliffe will not be happy watching that display and Ten Hag has a lot of work to do.
Rasmus Hojlund’s absence is very noticeable
Manchester United may have a few big players missing right now, but the absence of Rasmus Hojlund was felt sorely in this game.
With no focal point to hold the ball up, United struggled for large periods of the game to cause Fulham any real difficulty.
To make this worse, his replacement up front – Marcus Rashford – was practically invisible up top.
A serious problem for Ten Hag to solve heading into a crucial FA Cup tie midweek and then the dreaded Manchester Derby.
Andre Onana has another excellent outing
As United struggled to really get going, Fulham were all over the home side like a rash with multiple goal attempts.
These were all refuted by Andre Onana as the United goalkeeper was once more solid in goal despite conceding what was an unstoppable finish by Bassey, and also the late dagger by Iwobi.
Ultimately without the Cameroonian on form, Fulham could’ve scored a bagful more than the two goals they managed. The goalkeeper can’t be blamed for this loss with the blame firmly at the feet of the boss.
Harry Maguire impresses despite loss
The man who has on so many occasions been disrespected in his time at Manchester United has once again proven his worth.
A standout throughout the game as he thrived keeping Fulham at bay before having a deciding moment in the 89th minute.
Maguire scored late on to draw the two sides level, showing all the attacking instinct of a world-class striker.
United’s poor performances catch up with them
Manchester United have been on a run lately of somehow scrapping wins when undeserved and it looked as though this would be the case again after Maguire’s goal.
But Fulham deserved all three points and that’s what they got at Old Trafford on Saturday as Alex Iwobi punished a stretched United side and scored the winner in the 96th minute.
It was always coming and United cannot complain after a performance like that which Ten Hag ultimately should be embarrassed by.
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