Fulham were within a minute of a first Premier League win before Manchester United found the deflection that rescued a 1-1 draw at Craven Cottage. Neither Álvaro Arbeloa nor Michael Carrick could claim much comfort from it: Fulham let a lead slip late on, while United extended their winless league run to three matches.
Why it landed this week
- Fulham
- Manchester United
- Tottenham Hotspur
- Álvaro Arbeloa
- Michael Carrick
- Matheus Cunha
- Bernd Leno
- Lisandro Martínez
There was plenty of football for a match between two managers under pressure, and rather less of the calm both benches might have ordered. Sir Alex Ferguson watched from the stands as the sides produced 26 attempts before half-time in a breathless opening at the Cottage.
United should have been ahead inside 10 minutes, when Bernd Leno got across to turn away Lisandro Martínez’s fierce effort from outside the box. The German goalkeeper was needed again as the half developed. Bruno Fernandes struck a post after Matheus Cunha had robbed David Affenbruger near the byline and pulled the ball back into the middle.
Fulham responded through the influence of Alex Iwobi, with Gonzalo García leading the line. Senne Lammens denied Joshua King twice and also kept out Sander Berge as the home side began to find their own rhythm. At the other end, the woodwork came to Leno’s aid once more when Cunha’s shot took a defensive touch, looped over the goalkeeper and struck the post.
Carrick’s United were more restrained after the interval, allowing Fulham greater possession in an attempt to avoid another end-to-end spell. The hosts took advantage in the 63rd minute, though the breakthrough arrived in awkward fashion for Martínez. Lammens had saved Calvin Bassey’s effort, only for the loose ball to rebound off the United defender and into the net.
Arbeloa’s first league victory looked close. Leno, who had given Fulham a commanding performance between the posts, made fine saves from Bryan Mbeumo and Cunha, while Marcus Rashford was withdrawn after an ineffective afternoon.
But United’s pressure finally produced an equaliser in the 89th minute. Cunha shot, Affenbruger got in the way, and the deflection wrong-footed Leno. It was a harsh ending for the Austrian centre-back, who had been central to a tighter Fulham defence since the previous weekend’s 0-0 draw at Anfield.
United finished with 29 attempts but remain 12th in the table. Their week had already been soured by Wednesday’s 3-2 League Cup defeat to Brighton, and this was another result short of a convincing response. Fulham at least moved off the bottom, handing that unwanted place to Tottenham, but a draw from a winning position will not have felt like much of a climb.
