Bruno Fernandes was on hand to help Manchester United put Fulham and Super Eagles star Alex Iwobi to the sword with a late winner at Craven Cottage
Manchester United had to rely on the brilliance of Bruno Fernandes to rescue all three points at Craven Cottage as they scraped a 1-0 win to move up to sixth.
In a disappointing bore-fest, Manchester United struggled to create chances against a stubborn Fulham side, but eventually got a late winner through their captain fantastic Bruno Fernandes, who scored in additional time to win the game.
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After back-to-back 3-0 losses, the Red Devils were able to overcome their recent slump to secure a much-needed victory to boost their confidence.
How it happened
Entering on the back of consecutive embarrassments against Manchester City and Newcastle, Manchester United were desperate to right the wrongs of those defeats and started on the front foot, getting the ball in the back of the net soon after the kick-off.
Manchester United thought they had taken the lead after only 11 minutes through Scott McTominay after a freekick routine, but the Scotland international’s goal was ruled out after a VAR check found Harry Maguire to be intervening in play from an offside position.
The extensive check found that Maguire had stopped a Fulham defender from stopping an initial cross even though the ex-Manchester United skipper had not touched the ball.
The rest of the half played out as one of the more lacklustre affairs of the Premier League this season, as neither side created any real danger for the remaining 35 minutes in the half.
The second half was more of the same, as the home side appeared satisfied with a draw against Manchester United, while the visiting Red Devils’ stale attack rarely threatened in London.
Fulham had the best chance of the second period to take the lead, but midfielder Joao Palhinha was denied from close range by Andre Onana in the Manchester United goal.
The only goal of the game came late on, in the 91st minute, as Bruno Fernandes capitalised on some schoolboy defending from Fulham and beat two markers with a silky dummy before placing the ball into the corner of the net to give Manchester United the lead.
In the end, the Portuguese captain’s individual brilliance was all that stood between the two teams in an otherwise disappointing fixture.
Manchester United’s win sees them move up to sixth place in the league temporarily, while Fulham drop to 14th on the table with 12 points from 11 matches.