Fulham 0 Man Utd 1: Martinez’s deflected strike sends all three points back to Manchester in huge boost for Amorim
LIFE now begins for birthday boy Ruben Amorim – and he will now hope his team can also start enjoying themselves.
Amorim will be blowing out 40 candles on a cake today and at least he will not be in a rotten mood, which has been the case the day after most of his United games.
On this occasion, there was no TV smashing in the dressing room although by the time Lisandro Martinez scored a 78th minute winner, many fans at home will have switched off their television sets as the game was so bad.
But thanks to Martinez, who got away with a nasty challenge on sub Adama Traore before the goal, United will now look to win a third successive game for the first time under Amorim when they travel to Romania to face FCSB on Thursday.
Amorim’s name was sung enthusiastically by the United fans who will not have headed to west London with too much confidence.
While the United boss is unlikely to be getting a birthday card off skinflint boss Jim Ratcliffe – and he was here at Craven Cottage – Amorim will be hoping to get a few presents in the transfer market this week.
Despite this win, only a seventh under the Portuguese coach, it remains clear United are still desperately short of quality, particularly in the final third,
While they might not be the worst team in United’s history, despite those bombshell comments from the manager, the fact they are 12th in the Premier League sums up this embarrassing situation.
Where United go this season remains to be seen although at least they will not get relegated like 51 years ago. But great entertainers they are certainly not.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino will certainly regret heading to west London for this match which only became interesting in the closing stages.
The family of Hollywood star Julia Roberts were also supposed to come but they cried off and that proved to be an incredibly wise decision.
The Magnificent Seven by The Clash was played at half-time although there was nothing magnificent about this game which kicked off at the unusual time of 7pm.
Alex Iwobi fired a couple of efforts at United keeper Andre Onana but they were not particularly testing ones.
Raul Jimenez delivered a couple of wild finishes but against this awful United team, Fulham would have expected to do better,
United did not manage a shot on target until the 42nd minute although it was not much of one with Matthijs De Ligt’s effort easily gathered by Bernd Leno.
Amad Diallo, one of United’s better performers recently, looked lost on the right while Alejandro Garnacho – who started despite being a January window target for clubs including Chelsea – had a few bright moments and played a part in the winning goal.
Marco Silva’s Fulham were less of a threat in the second half and they lost Harry Wilson who hobbled off towards Cottage and they are unlikely to see him play away at Wigan in the FA Cup on Saturday.
In Wilson’s place, Fulham brought on speed merchant Traore down the left and worried about his pace, Amorim switched Noussair Mazraoui over to the right of defence with Diogo Dalot moving across to left wing-back.
Despite Fulham being unusually passive, United were so lacklustre.
They had one free-kick in a dangerous area and bizarrely, keeper Onana raced to the touchline on halfway to get a view of the angle and he shouted at Bruno Fernandes to try his luck in the top right corner.
Whether this was a clever ploy or Fernandes could not be bothered to take any notice of his colleague remains to be seen, But United’s captain went for the bottom left corner but he shot wide.
Traore added a bit of spark although as ever, his final product was not great and he wasted one good chance while he then suffered that crunching tackle from Martinez.
And then, the United centre-back delivered an impact at the other end of the pitch.
He seized on a loose pass from Sander Berge, nipped in front of Jimenez, and his shot deflected off Sasa Lukic and looped over keeper Keno who was able to get a hand to the shot.
United sub Toby Collyer saved his team with a goal-line clearance from Joachim Andersen’s header.
Diallo thought he had got the second deep into stoppage time but it was ruled out by VAR but Amorim would not be bothered about that,
Now aged 40, Amorim still looks youthful.
But what a couple of years in the job at United will do to him remains to be seen.
There will certainly be plenty of grey hairs.
MAN UTD PLAYER RATINGS: Maguire puts in superb defensive display but Garnacho caught running into blind alleys
MANCHESTER UNITED secured a hard-fought three points against Fulham.
Lisandro Martinez’s deflected strike proved to be the difference in what was the Red Devils’ only shot on target all game.
Harry Maguire impressed but Alejandro Garnacho once again failed to impress in what could have been his Man Utd farewell amid rumours linking him with Napoli and Chelsea.
Here is how SunSport rated the individual performances.
Andre Onana – 7
Good save low down to his left to keep out an Alex Iwobi shot early doors.
Other than that he was barely tested but no glaring errors mean it is a step in the right direction for the Red Devils No1.
Diogo Dalot – 6
Had a difficult time in the first half up against Iwobi who was Fulham‘s main attacking threat.
Switched to the left flank in the second half and supported Garnacho without posing much of a threat.
Matthijs de Ligt – 8
Another strong showing at the back from the Dutchman. Without his support for Dalot, Fulham may have created a goal down United’s right-hand side.
Harry Maguire – 9
A superb defensive display from the England star who has been one of United’s best players since Amorim took charge.
Pulled off a brilliant header at the back post to deny Rodrigo Muniz a certain goal.
Lisandro Martinez – 8
Superb last-ditch tackle to prevent Emile Smith Rowe from shooting as he burst through on goal.
His goal had a big slice of luck as it was deflected past Bernd Leno but credit to him for having the audacity to shoot.
Noussair Mazraoui – 7
Solid at the back and tried to get forward when he could. United looked more balance with him on the left and Dalot on the right, although the pair swapped at half-time.
Manuel Ugarte – 6
Showed some nice touches and was a bit of a menace in the middle – in a positive and negative sense. Kept a close eye on Smith Rowe and allowed him no time on the ball.
Booked for a foul on Adama Traore and was taken off shortly afterwards with an injury.
Bruno Fernandes – 5
Not at his best. Barely saw the ball in the first half and was not very effective when he did get it.
Amad Diallo – 6
Looked bright on the ball and United’s only real outlet going forward.
He worked tirelessly and pressed really well – his hard work paid off when he found the back of the net in stoppage time but his effort was chalked off.
Alejandro Garnacho – 3
Was cautious on the ball and ran into blind alleys too often. Final ball let him down on the rare occasion he did manage to beat a defender.
Rasmus Hojlund – 4
His hold up play is nowhere near good enough for this system or for a club like United.
He was too gung-ho at times and his erratic nature meant linking up with Amad and Garnacho proved difficult.
Hauled off before the hour mark which says it all about his performance.
Subs:
Leny Yoro (for De Ligt, 58mins) – 6
A more assured display given his shaky start to life in the Premier League.
Joshua Zirkzee (for Hojlund, 58mins) – 5
Like Hojlund he had a difficult time holding the ball up but United improved with him on the pitch.
Toby Collyer (for Ugarte, 76mins ) – 6
Solid display again from the youngster who was often in the right position to clear, including one on the line to stop a Joachim Andersen header from going in.
Kobbie Mainoo (for Garnacho, 80mins) – 6
Provided energy in midfield and shored things up alongside Collyer.
A brilliant one-two with Amad set up the winger to score before VAR ruled Amad offside.
Tyrell Malacia (for Mazraoui, 80mins) – 6
Brought on in an unfamiliar right wing-back role but did what was needed to see out the clean sheet.