In a surprising turn of events, United’s winning run was broken by Fulham on Saturday. Despite former captain Harry Maguire’s equalizing goal, it was Alex Iwobi who scored the winning goal for Fulham in the added minutes. The performance from Manchester United was not at their usual, this match will be a reminder that even the strongest or in form teams may face setbacks in football.
At Old Trafford, United struggled to gain momentum against Fulham, this might be due to the unavailability of their key players throughout this season due to injuries. This has led to a lot of average performances from the team.
The match was goalless at halftime. In the second half, Fulham opened scoring just after 65 minutes with a powerful shot from Calvin Bassey. In return Maguire made it 1-1 and in dying minutes of the game, Alex Iwobi delivered a match winning goal.
Casemiro miles off the pace
Casemiro’s absence due to injury was felt by every Red Devils’ fan, and his recent performances have not been upto the mark. Today’s match against Fulham highlighted that Casemiro lacks pace against quality and pacey players which leaves gaps behind and Fulham took full advantage of that.
Red Devils’ Hojlund-less plan doesn’t look good
United are without a lot of their first team players, but the absence of Rasmus Hojlund was pretty evident against Fulham.
Without the presence of Hojlund, Manchester United’s attack appears to be less effective, as his absence leaves a big hole in their attacking strategy. It is really important for the team to adapt and find different solutions to fill this void left by him which would ensure a bit more balanced and efficient performance.
This issue needs to be resolved by their manager Erik Ten Hag before the midweek FA Cup fifth round clash against Nottingham Forest.
Average performances catch up with Devils
Manchester United has been displaying an impressive run of form recently with their victories in Premier League matches prior to their defeat to Fulham. However, their performances have been average, as evident in their last match against Luton Town where they struggled after an initial burst of energy. Manager needs to address this to try and achieve their long term goal.
Fulham showed an amazing performance at Theatre Of Dreams, deserving the three points. As United faces an upcoming challenge against their rivals Manchester City this loss would come as a wake up call that they cannot afford anymore losses in order to achieve their goal of finishing in top four and securing a Champions League spot.
