Fulham 0-1 Man United: Lisandro Martinez's deflected effort secures a much-needed win for Ruben Amorim's side at Craven Cottage
Fulham 0-1 Man United: Lisandro Martinez's deflected effort secures a much-needed win for Ruben Amorim's side at Craven Cottage
Share:
Amid the darkness of this troubled Manchester United season, this barely deserved victory will stand out as a rare pinprick of light. It has to. As United and their new manager Ruben Amorim try desperately to inch forwards, any foray on to a football field that doesn’t end in disappointment is a positive. A scrappy game settled by a deflected winner is more than acceptable for now.
For Fulham, meanwhile, this was a chance missed, an opportunity to score a notable win against one of English football’s established order. Marco Silva’s team have been impressive in the main this season but after an enterprising half and hour, they fell away badly. By the time the game reached its latter stages they were a team waiting to be beaten and that is exactly that happened.
United central defender Lisandro Martinez had played much of this game on the edge. He often does and his two-footed stamp when challenging Adama Traore in the 62nd minute should have been penalised by some kind of card. It wasn’t and for some reason VAR chose not to get involved. In English football these days, it’s not okay to trip your opponent in his own half. But it is to try something altogether more violent and dangerous. Work that one out.
With just eleven minutes remaining, Martinez appeared in a forward area to make an impact of an entirely different kind as his shot from 21 yards looped up off Fulham’s Sasa Lukic and somehow found the top corner of the goal. For Fulham there was still time to correct what must have felt like an injustice. And they almost equalised in the 88th minute only for United substitute Toby Collyer to clear a Joachim Andersen header off the line. Then, deep in to added time, Fulham’s Rodrigo Muniz lashed a shot over when he really should have hit the target.
