A last minute moment of magic from Bruno Fernandes helped Manchester United seal an all-important 1-0 victory over Fulham on Saturday afternoon.
The game looked destined for a dull 0-0 affair but with five minutes of additional time signalled, the captain popped up with a true captain’s goal to cement a huge victory for Erik ten Hag’s United.
A fast start was key for United after a tough week and they thought they had that and much more when Scott McTominay prodded home from close range after Alejandro Garnacho had played the ball across the box from a Christian Eriksen free-kick.
A lengthy VAR check followed the ball hitting the back of the net and after a rare incident which involved referee John Brooks being sent to the screen for a subjective offside call, the goal was ruled out due to Harry Maguire ‘interfering with play’ during Eriken’s delivery.
Jonny Evans acrobatically fired over following a Bruno Fernandes corner as the half drew on but the promising start by this point had all but fizzled out.
Fulham grew into the game and had the better of the latter stages of the first-half but the whistle blowing to draw a close to the first 45 was welcomed by many after what had been, to that point, a largely forgettable game of football.
Much like the first-half, United started the second period the better side with Garnacho having a couple of early efforts saved by Bernd Leno.
Andre Onana was at his best twice in quick succession to stop Fulham taking the lead on the hour mark, first denying Harry Wilson and then latterly Joao Palhinha.
Subsitute Anthony Martial was inches away from scoring with his first touch of the game when he hooked a Diogo Dalot cross towards goal but it dropped agonisingly wide of Leno’s far post.
And just as both teams looked almost content with a point, Fernandes took aim from the edge of the box and rifled an unstoppable effort into the bottom corner to send the United fans at that end into ecstasy.
Here’s how we rated the United players...
1. Andre Onana - 7
A brilliant string of saves midway through the second-half kept the scores level and kept United in the game.
2. Aaron Wan-Bissaka - 6
A solid performance on his return to the starting eleven following injury. No complaints.
3. Harry Maguire - 6
An early blow to the head looked worrying for Maguire but he recovered well and put in a solid performance at the back.
4. Jonny Evans - 6
The veteran started over Raphael Varane and with a clean-sheet to his name you can’t fault his efforts.