Fulham defender Timothy Castagne was left to rue moments of quality from Bruno Fernandes and Andre Onana as Manchester United picked up a vital Premier League win away at Fulham.
There were shades of Alejandro Garnacho in 2022, or of Cristiano Ronaldo in 2007, as Bruno Fernandes sold the Fulham backline a hotdog before firing past Bernd Leno in stoppage time. Another trip to the Cottage, another dramatic late winner for Manchester United.
“It’s tough,” Castagne, the £13.5 million summer signing from Leicester City, told Fulham TV.
“I think we defended pretty well and then to (concede) that type of goal at the end of the game, it’s very tough. We maybe need to stay more composed when (Bruno Fernandes) gets it, because he gets a good shot.
“But we can’t over commit. It’s always difficult at the end for the game to always keep (your composure).”
At the risk of descending into cliché, this was what those in the game tend to refer to as a ‘captain’s moment’. Bruno Fernandes, was a picture of composure amid the chaos, fizzing into the bottom corner and lifting the mood following successive 3-0 home defeats for Erik ten Hag’s side.
At the other end of the pitch, Andre Onana was quietly excellent again. That Copenhagen penalty save – another piece of stoppage time heroics in a season full of them for Manchester United – appears to have lit a fire under the club’s new number one, Onana keeping the Red Devils level before Fernandes’ hero moment at the death.
Andre Onana shines again
“There were some good chances. Some good saves from their goalkeeper,” Castagne adds. “There are definitely some positives but, if you don’t get three points, there’s no point in these positives.”
For all the criticism coming United’s way, a team apparently in ‘crisis’ – one facing a litany of VAR calamities and an injury crisis for the ages – are now just six points behind Liverpool and Arsenal.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
