Man Utd player ratings v Fulham: Four score 4/10 in 2-1 loss - gallery

Manchester United's hopes of a top-four finished were dealt a major blow on Saturday as Erik ten Hag's side lost 2-1 to Fulham.

In a week where Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke of the club's positive future, this was a reminder of the immediate problems facing the club, as United fell eight points the Champions League spots.

The Red Devils played some nice stuff in the early stages but it was Fulham who carried the greater threat and registered the first five shots of the match. Alex Iwobi twice curled efforts wide from outside the area, but it was Rodrigo Muniz who went closest when his header was saved by Andre Onana from a corner and Sasa Lukic couldn’t steer in the follow-up at the back post.

It took until the 26th minute for United to manage a shot, with Alejandro Garnacho’s strike headed wide by Antonee Robinson’s recovering run, while Harry Maguire fired wildly over a few seconds later. Diogo Dalot, who said in the build-up to the game that he’s in the best form of his United career, saw a shot hit the post soon after, before Alejandro Garnacho cut inside and forced Bernd Leno into a low save near the end of the half.

But it was an opening 45 minutes that would have pleased the visitors and Muniz nearly scored the game’s first goal when he shrugged off Victor Lindelof, twisted in the box and then hit the post. Ex-United man also forced Onana into a second good stop when he cut inside and curled towards goal.

The second half started in a similar pattern, although there were no significant chances to speak of in a first 20 minutes that was impacted by a head injury to Casemiro. But it was Fulham who looked the most dangerous and it was no surprise when they took the lead via a corner. Callvin Bassey made first contact with the ball and when his initial shot hit Timothy Castagne, the ex-Rangers man reacted quickest and fired the ball beyond Onana.

It took United until the 71st minute to produce a shot after the break, when Bruno Fernandes saw an effort held, while Rashford also tested Leno when he curled a shot towards goal. Maguire had the best chance as United searched for a way back into the game when he connected with Christian Eriksen’s 80th-minute corner inside the six-yard box, but United’s no.5 failed to hit the target.

Maguire redeemed himself in the 89th minute when he was best placed to fire home from close range after Fernandes’ shot was parried by Leno. It was a goal that suddenly breathed new life into what had been a sullen Old Trafford.

United have specialised in grabbing late, decisive goals this season and the script looked written as twice Leno kept out Fernandes thanks to full-length sprawls, while the Fulham stopper also held Lindelof's back-post header. Yet, when the injury-time goal came it was Fulham who grabbed it as Adama Traore flew down the right wing and picked out Alex Iwobi at the back post, who confidently stroked the ball into the bottom corner in the 97th minute to hand the visitors a first win at Old Trafford since 2003.

Here's how we rated the players...