Manchester United fans made their feelings clear on Ayden Heaven after the Red Devils youngster made his debut in the FA Cup defeat to Fulham at Old Trafford.
Ruben Amorim’s men crashed out of the FA Cup on Sunday evening after Fulham clinched a 4-3 win on penalties in the fifth-round tie at the Theatre of Dreams.
Calvin Bassey broke the deadlock against Manchester United before half-time and he fired Marco Silva’s men into the lead in the first half of injury time.
However, Ruben Amorim’s side fought back in the second half and the Red Devils pulled level in the 71st minute thanks to United captain Bruno Fernandes.
Both United and Fulham played out 30 minutes of extra time before the FA Cup clash was settled on penalties, with Marco Silva’s side coming out on top.
All four of Fulham’s spot-kick takers converted past Andre Onana and United’s opening three penalty takers all scored past Bernd Leno in the shootout.
However, Bernd Leno’s heroics saw the Fulham shot-stopper deny both Victor Lindelof and Joshua Zirkzee from the spot-kick to seal the win for his side.
Man Utd fans react to Heaven’s debut vs Fulham
Ayden Heaven arrived at Old Trafford last month after Manchester United signed the 18-year-old highly rated defender from Premier League rivals Arsenal.
The United player had made a name for himself as part of the Arsenal academy set-up alongside Chido Obi-Martin, who signed for the Red Devils in 2024.
Heaven became part of the United youth academy system and Red Devils manager Ruben Amorim decided to hand the youngster his club debut against Fulham.
Amorim withdrew Harry Maguire in the 90th minute and Heaven made his United debut, with the centre-back securing valuable first-team minutes in the FA Cup.
Heaven had a relatively solid debut for United in the fifth-round tie and Red Devils supporters showered him with praise, despite the defeat to Fulham on Sunday.
United fans on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, waxed lyrical about Heaven and one supporter made a bold claim about the defender.
A Red Devils supporter insisted that Heaven had done enough to prove that the Premier League club do not need to sign another defender in the summer window.
One X user wrote: “Oi, Ayden Heaven was impressive in his cameo. He was at the right place at the right time and clean on the ball. Many more and build from there.”
Someone else tweeted: “It will probably get lost in the story of today’s game, but Ayden Heaven had an impressive debut. He wasn’t overly busy but nearly everything he did was very good.”
A third said: “Ayden Heaven was SOLID [sic] at the back!”
“Ayden Heaven actually had a really encouraging game when he came on, I was impressed,” another tweeted.
While a fifth posted: “Ayden Heaven, this disastrous [loss] won’t make me forget about that cameo. You are the future.”
A sixth added: “Ayden Heaven has proved to us we don’t need to bring in a CB in the summer.”
Somebody else commented: “Ayden Heaven looks [like] an absolute unit at the back, wanna see him play some more mins [sic].”
And an eighth suggested: “Ayden Heaven is one of the few positives I’d take out of this game.”
Amorim speaks out on Man Utd defeat
Following United’s exit from the FA Cup, Red Devils boss Amorim insisted that “today wasn’t our way” after his side fell short during the penalty shootout.
“We managed to score in the second half after that goal near half-time,” he told the BBC, as per BBC Sport.
“It’s harder for us to go and press a little bit high but we managed to do it and score. I think we have the best chances in the game.
“In the end, the penalties can go both ways and today wasn’t our way. It is important to say that with the substitutions we had our chance to win the game.
“I think we are better in the first ball than the second ball. I think it is also sometimes the quality of the players. Bruno, Casemiro, and Josh [Zirkzee] are improving a lot.”
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