Manchester United 1-2 Fulham
“Taught by Pep, moulded by [Tony] Mowbray, ripe for England.” Those were the words that headlined The Times’ feature on Tosin, published just hours before Fulham’s glowing display at Old Trafford on Saturday.
In my previous blog, I expressed disappointment that the team had missed out on a prestigious victory over Aston Villa. Little did I realise that a greater triumph awaited with the ruthless termination of Manchester United’s unbeaten run.
For northern fans and most of the media, the match proved an anticlimax after Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s rousing address midweek. But let us brush away any excuses for United’s defeat.
Rasmus Hojlund may have been unavailable but can the absence of one member of that illustrious squad make so much of a difference? Besides, Fulham had to manage without Joao Palhinha. As Erik ten Hag admitted: “Other clubs have this and we have to deal with it.”
The only blemish on the occasion was provided by the weather. London was recovering from the weekday downpours, but Manchester was still drenched with the stuff.
Reshuffle
Marco Silva had reshuffled the team. Alex Iwobi, back in the starting line-up, had an early scoring chance when put through by Andreas Pereira but missed the target. Then, Sasa Lukic was blocked from achieving the goal that he so desperately needs. He earned a corner, from which Rodrigo Muniz almost headed the Whites into the lead. The effervescent striker’s next effort came even closer.
Shortly afterwards, Harry Maguire was booked for a crude and ill-timed tackle. Regular commentators Jim and Jamie, who had previously bestowed high praise on referee Michael Oliver, attributed the colour of the card to the officials’ failure of nerve and repeated their grumbles throughout the afternoon. Slow motion replays showed that the foul probably belonged to the lesser category.
If anything the Whites stepped up their performance after the interval and Silva did not need to make wholesale substitutions.
After Harrison Reed, captain for the day, had tested Andre Onana with swirling shot, Pereira’s corner found Calvin Bassey, who at the second attempt lashed the ball into the United net. This 65th minute goal stunned the 73,000 spectators (apart from the triumphant minority chanting ‘Who are you?’). Silva did then make a significant change, resting Harrison Reed and sending on Adama Traore. Harry Wilson came within an ace of increasing the lead.
Long time coming
The Whites had not gained an away victory in the Premier League since August – but they certainly seemed on course. Until the 89th minute, when Maguire popped up again. Having missed a straightforward chance from a corner he was presented with an equaliser by Bernd Leno, who yet again parried when he should have smothered.
“(Fulham) shouldn’t bother taking a 1-0 advantage in future. It always unravels for them,” commented the BBC’s Guy Mowbray.
The crowd agreed and bayed for a winner in added time, driving their team into a reckless finale. In the 97th minute, Traore saw his chance. He left Maguire floundering and surged into the penalty area, where Alex Iwobi received his pass and placed the ball well beyond Onana’s reach.
“I felt we wanted it more,” opined Calvin Bassey. “That showed in the way we played.”
Bruno Fernandes (of course) blamed the referee. Ironically, Tosin had one of his quieter days but every member of the Fulham team contributed to a wonderful and memorable triumph.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
