Michael Carrick has rejected the suggestion that his Manchester United players lacked physical fitness after they salvaged a last-gasp 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday. The statistics from the match showed the home side covered a collective 6.6km more than United, and the man who rescued a point for the visitors – Matheus Cunha, who scored in the 89th minute – was himself critical of his team’s efforts.
United were poor after the restart with the game still goalless, a spell that led to a disastrous Lisandro Martínez own goal in the 63rd minute. “In the beginning of the second half, Fulham put in more energy than us and we cannot accept this,” Cunha said.
Carrick, though, said he did not share that assessment. “I don’t, particularly,” the manager said of Cunha’s comment on the collective energy levels. “The way we finished the game … it didn’t look like that for me. I was quite happy with the way we finished the game. We kept pushing. I don’t think that’s an issue, no.”
The draw arrived in dramatic fashion. Cunha’s shot from distance took a heavy deflection off the Fulham defender David Affengruber, wrongfooting goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Carrick pointed to the response to Martínez’s own goal as the most encouraging part of the afternoon. “The response was really pleasing … the way we went about trying to get back into the game,” he said. “We kept the ideas, kept the patience, kept the real purpose to it. We finished on a positive, which is a small step for us … without getting carried away it’s a good step. We came to take three points but at least we’ve taken something to build on moving forward.”
It was not the result Carrick or United wanted at the end of a week in which they lost the derby against Manchester City and exited the Carabao Cup against Brighton, both matches at Old Trafford. Still, the manager stressed he saw reasons for encouragement. “It has been pretty fine margins so far this season that have flipped it the wrong way,” he said. “I know we can do better, we need to do better at certain things. But I’m not despondent and down because we’re showing some good signs.”
A section of the United support booed Carrick’s decision to withdraw Kobbie Mainoo in the 80th minute, with Mason Mount sent on in his place. “There’s always going to be certain reactions when you’re making changes,” Carrick said. “I understand. We’re chasing the game and everyone’s a little bit emotional. I don’t take any negatives or offence to it.” Asked whether he detected deflation among fans who have been expecting a big season from United, he replied: “It’s still a big season ahead. It’s a long season and you’re going to have spells through it. That’s part of the journey. I’m not playing it down. We wanted more points. I’m not saying everything’s great. I understand the frustration. But deflation is certainly not what we have within the club. The players didn’t have that on the pitch today and that’s what will carry us through the season.”
Fulham manager Álvaro Arbeloa, meanwhile, was unhappy with the officials. He claimed they did not want United to lose after what had happened in the Manchester City game the previous Sunday, when Erling Haaland’s winner was allowed to stand despite his teammate Enzo Fernández being in an offside position. Arbeloa highlighted a soft free-kick awarded in Harry Maguire’s favour on halfway, 35 seconds before Cunha’s equaliser, with Maguire feeling the contact from Fulham substitute César Palacios. “All the fouls for them,” Arbeloa told Sky Sports immediately after the game. “You can see before they scored, the foul against Maguire … he’s a guy who is 100 kilos. Every decision was for them. And I knew. I knew after the game against Manchester City that they would not let Manchester United lose here.” He rowed back on those comments in his main press conference but still said he was “not really happy”. Referee Peter Bankes gave Fulham the benefit of the doubt in the 86th minute when a Martínez shot hit Calvin Bassey’s hand inside the area; Bassey did put his hand up but it remained close to his body.
Former United defender Gary Neville was far harsher on the visitors, branding their early second-half display as the worst he had seen in more than 45 years. Reflecting on United’s lethargic, error-strewn start to the half, the Sky co-commentator called the period “absolutely pathetic”. “I’ve watched Manchester United since the age of five and that’s the worst 15 minutes I’ve ever seen,” he said. “I’ve never seen such a lack of effort. What must Michael Carrick be thinking?”