Lisandro Martínez’s lucky winner gives Manchester United victory at Fulham
Lisandro Martínez’s lucky winner gives Manchester United victory at Fulham
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Lisandro Martínez has form for putting his laces through the ball to help Ruben Amorim and Manchester United on the road. Remember his roof-of-the-net banger in the 2-2 Premier League draw at Liverpool? The central defender was at it again here and if there was a slice of luck about his late winner, one to blow open a previously dismal spectacle, it did nothing to dampen the celebrations.
![[Toby Collyer clears Joachim Andersen’s last-minute header off the line]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/90bea4681b32fe30d03ac35b24b262d881da4f79/0_226_3875_2325/master/3875.jpg?width=445&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
There is a case to be made as Amorim feels his way into the Impossible Job, encountering so many problems, that his team is shaping up OK away from home. United’s best performances under him have been at the grounds of their biggest rivals – Liverpool, Arsenal, Manchester City.
United also tend to do well at Craven Cottage and Martínez made it happen for them again, running on to a loose ball, trying his luck and watching it loop up off the Fulham midfielder, Sasa Lukic, and dip into the far, top corner off Bernd Leno’s outstretched hand and the underside of the crossbar. It was United’s only shot on target. They had just four attempts across the piece.
United then survived an almighty scare in the 89th minute when Toby Collyer, on as a substitute, made a goalline clearance to keep out Joachim Andersen’s header from a corner. The replays showed that the ball was directly on the line. And if United were denied themselves at the very last, Amad Diallo finishing smartly only for the VAR to pull him back for a hairline offside, they did not care. It was not pretty. But they took this with plenty of gratitude. What was actually at stake for United? The league season feels over for them, certainly in terms of looking up the table and yet there is always something, each game there to be pored over, pulled apart.
