Manchester United escaped Craven Cottage with a 1-1 draw on Sunday, Matheus Cunha’s late, heavily deflected strike sparing Michael Carrick a third defeat in a week. Cunha, operating as a false nine, took on a shot from the edge of the area, left of centre, in the 89th minute. Bernd Leno appeared to have the near corner covered until the ball spun off David Affengruber and into the opposite corner.
The point arrived at the end of a turbulent week for United. Carrick’s side had lost the Manchester derby to Manchester City the previous Sunday and then exited the Carabao Cup against Brighton in midweek, both defeats coming at Old Trafford. Those setbacks followed earlier wobbles since a defeat at Hull on the opening weekend, and United’s confidence looked visibly fragile in south-west London.
For much of the second half it seemed Fulham would claim a first Premier League win under Alvaro Arbeloa, whose team had started the day at the foot of the table. The breakthrough came from a darkly comic own goal. Cunha failed to hold the ball up in a deep midfield position and was out-muscled by Calvin Bassey, who drove to the edge of the area. Senne Lammens’s parry from the Fulham captain’s shot was unconvincing, and Lisandro Martinez, facing his own goal, could not set his feet properly and jabbed the ball goalwards. Lammens then tried to clear with his feet and failed.
Fulham had been the more urgent and creative side before the interval and were entitled to feel aggrieved at not leading. Gonzalo Garcia fluffed two well-placed chances, Sander Berge forced Lammens into a save on the second phase of one of those moves, and Oscar Bobb dragged wide after spinning into space on the edge of the area. Josh King, Fulham’s No 10, tested Lammens in the 32nd minute after buying a yard on Luke Shaw. King, described on Friday as “close” to an England call-up by Thomas Tuchel, was booked for diving in the 45th minute after running into Harry Maguire.
United had their own openings in the first half, hitting the woodwork twice. Cunha wriggled clear of Affengruber on the right and pulled back for Bruno Fernandes, whose flick struck the far post, while a Cunha shot from distance looped off a deflection and came down against the outside of the upright. Martinez forced Leno into a decent early save and Marcus Rashford lifted a good chance high. Carrick’s attacking solution, with Benjamin Sesko again injured and no pure No 9 available, was to use Cunha through the middle with Fernandes close to him, Youri Tielemans and Kabbie Mainoo further back, and Luke Shaw returning on the left of the defence. Arbeloa paired Sander Berge and Shea Charles in central midfield and pushed Alex Iwobi out to the left, with he and Bobb both drifting inside to useful effect.
After the restart United tried to step higher and play at a brisker tempo, but they were laboured, their moves predictable, and they struggled to get in behind. Their only second-half efforts came from outside the area, and although Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha both forced Leno into fine saves with curlers from distance, Fulham sat back and compressed the spaces. Kevin, on as a Fulham substitute, almost made it 2-0 with an effort that beat Lammens. United found their moment anyway, but the fault-lines remain deep.