In the early kickoff on Saturday, Manchester United comfortably defeated Fulham 1-0, with a late goal from Bruno Fernandes saving the blushes and relieving pressure on Erik ten Hag.
After back-to-back 3-0 losses, Ten Hag was desperate for his players to respond, and the Dutch coach believed he would get it.
Man Utd were unfortunate not to go ahead early when Maguire was called for offside interference even though he had not touched the ball before McTominay’s tap-in from a free-kick in the eighth minute.
Man Utd had a strong, if scrappy, start to the match, but they were unable to convert any of their chances, and as the half went on and the visitors withered, Fulham gradually gained the upper hand.
Just before the half-hour mark, Diogo Dalot did well to deny Harry Wilson at the far post following a promising cross, but the first half was lackluster with little goalmouth activity.
The most United could do was a meek curled effort from Fernandes’ position on the outskirts of the area, while Wilson and Alex Iwobi wasted good counterattack opportunities with misdirected shots at the other end.
Ten Hag’s team has lost its eighth consecutive game in which they failed to lead at the half.
Alejandro Garnacho’s deflected shot was superbly saved by Bernd Leno to set up the first opening of a second half that had to be better than the first for an unchanged United team.
Both teams were lethal on the counterattack as the game dragged on, with Wilson stinging Andre Onana’s palms with a long-range attempt at the hour mark.
Moments later, as Fulham increased the pressure, Joao Palhinha—who had been outstanding throughout—had his strong effort denied by the Man Utd goalkeeper.
Both Rodrigo Muniz and Calvin Bassey failed to steer headers on target from set pieces, with the latter going closest to putting Onana to the test.
As Man Utd’s time ran out, substitute Facundo Pellistri’s weak shot pushed Leno into an easy save, but Fernandes’ furious long-range free-kick presented a greater challenge for the Fulham goalie.
A fairly dull match appeared to conclude in a goalless draw, but Man Utd captain Fernandes scored an important winner to relieve Ten Hag of some of the burden.
Leno could only push the ball farther into his bottom corner as the Portuguese curled a shot beyond the area’s boundary.
Even if it was far from vintage and United looked impoverished once more, Fernandes delivered the goods in the closing moments to provide the guests a much-needed break.