Man Utd news: Deflected strike hands Red Devils uninspiring win over Fulham
Lisandro Martinez’s deflected strike saw an uninspiring Manchester United side grab all three points at Craven Cottage on Sunday.
United have been struggling of late, losing six of their last nine games as their terrible season threatened to plumb new depths.
Manager Ruben Amorim was therefore relieved with the result, but the Portuguese will be aware that much work remains to be done on this historically poor Red Devils team.
Sports News Blitz writer Robert Bore offers his thoughts on the game against Fulham.
Important win for struggling Red Devils
Inspiration: the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something; the quality of being inspired; a person or thing that inspires.
Now, I like Ruben Amorim. I like how he talks. I love his honesty and I do think he is going to be a very good coach at Old Trafford. But, oh my days, I am far from inspired.
That said, you have to have some admiration for a man who will not compromise on his footballing principles.
However, when watching United struggle to create much of note and snatch what is arguably an undeserved victory with their first shot on target in the 78th minute, it seems evidently clear that persisting with a three-at-the-back system considering the players at his disposal is going to be painful.
At the end of the day, United walked away with an important win at a side who have been much better than them this season. Maybe I should be thankful for small mercies.
Bad omens ahead of London clash
Lisandro Martinez, Rasmus Hojlund, and Alejandro Garnacho returned to the starting line-up at the expense of Leny Yoro, Joshua Zirkzee, and Kobbie Mainoo respectively.
That meant Bruno Fernandes would sit a little deeper while Garnacho and the in-form Amad Diallo were charged with running riot in behind the Dane up top.
With the hosts at 27/20 in the pre-match betting and having lost only five league games all season – compared to United's six defeats in their last nine matches – the Red Devils were up against it.
United, it must be said, had only tasted defeat to their hosts once in their last eighteen league clashes, winning seven on the spin at Craven Cottage, so perhaps there was hope.
It would all depend on which version of Amorim’s side would turn up.
And, as it happened, they actually turned up before going behind rather than after, which had become a frustrating and worrying trend of late.
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Hosts boss the opening exchanges
It was a pretty tepid start from both sides as Hojliund gave away possession too easily around the halfway line to allow Fulham to break, but Alex Iwobi fired tamely at Andre Onana who managed to keep hold of the ball this week after his margarine hands against Brighton a week ago.
Iwobi was seeing plenty of the ball and Fulham looked lively, with Matthijs de Ligt needing to be on his toes to stop Iwobi and Raul Jimenez from opening United up.
After 14 minutes, Amorim’s side still had not entered the Fulham box.
Emil Smith Rowe almost profited from Harry Maguire's poor first touch that was more akin to a ping pong ball being fired out of a cannon.
There was a crack from range courtesy of Iwobi, but it was easy enough for Onana once again, mainly because it was a crap attempt.
Garnacho provided the first real spark for the away side, taking a good first touch out on the left before sucking in Harry Wilson and finding an overlapping Noussair Mazraoui, but the Moroccan’s cross was dealt with comfortably.
Fulham just looked better in terms of their shape and their understanding of each other's jobs.
The frustration for United was the sloppiness, with Diallo, Dalot, and Hojlund all guilty of giving the ball away far too easily.
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United grow into the game
Martinez then did well to win a free-kick 30 yards out that Fernandes swung over, but it was defended well.
United were slowly coming into the game, a little like milk turning, although two wild efforts from Jimenez and a whipped cross from Wilson were reminders to keep it tight at the back.
The second half started much in the same vein as the first: slowly.
Mazraoui fashioned the first real chance when he was hacked down on the edge of the Fulham area. Fernandes lined it up and fired low at the near post but in truth scuffed it just wide.
With Wilson limping off for Fulham to be replaced by the hulk that is Adama Traore, Amorim got the dice out too, bringing on Zirkzee for Hojlund and Yoro for De Ligt.
Despite a good spell of possession for the Reds, they were not getting touches in the Fulham box. All in all, nothing was really happening.
Ugarte was subsequently shown his customary yellow card after arriving a split second too late to meet Traore fairly before the Fulham man should have done better when teed up by Smith Rowe on the left edge of the United box.
Amorim brought on Toby Collyer for Ugarte and there were 15 or so minutes left for someone to craft a goal.
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Late goal seals the points for Amorim’s side
When the goal came, it was from an unlikely source.
Fernandes fed Garnacho's run to the by-line and, while his cut-back was partially cleared, the ball in was eventually met by the onrushing Martinez, with the shot cruelly clipping off Sasa Lukic and looping over Bernd Leno in the Fulham goal.
Leno simply did not see it coming and neither did United fans, to be fair.
Mainoo and Tyrell Malacia were thrown on for Garnacho and Mazraoui, respectively, as Amorim looked for fresher legs while the United faithful – who had been making a racket all game – grew louder.
It was now a question of whether or not United could see the game out.
They almost did not when Joachim Andersen headed goalwards at the near post, but thankfully Collyer had heard the 'United about to concede from a corner' siren and headed the ball clear.
Then, halfway through the six added minutes, Rodrigo Muniz blazed over when it looked easier to score and United were clinging on for dear life.
Amorim’s men did look to have made it safe moments later when Malacia swung the ball out to Diallo who released Mainoo to cut inside and smash past Leno, but VAR intervened and found the Ivorian offside by the narrowest of margins.
From there, the visitors saw it out to secure a precious three points.
Amorim, on the last day of his thirties, admitted post-match that it had not been pretty.
“It was not a great game, but we tried to control it and play our game. We have to improve a lot,” the Portuguese said.
“We need to improve a lot with the ball. Without the ball, we were okay. We lacked some pace and power up front. We need to create more chances and take the ball to the last third.”
Some inspiration needed, perhaps.
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