Manchester United 1-2 Fulham

A sensational 2-1 win saw Fulham pick up their first victory at Old Trafford for 21 years on Saturday afternoon.

After dominating the hosts with an imperious performance, a second half Calvin Bassey thunderbolt was cancelled out by Harry Maguire before Alex Iwobi struck late to grab a deserved three points. 

Marco Silva made six changes from the side that were edged out by Aston Villa a week ago at Craven Cottage. Calvin Bassey & Alex Iwobi, fresh from their AFCON exploits with Nigeria were re-inserted into the starting XI along with Harrison Reed, Saša Lukić, Tosin & Harry Wilson. With João Palhinha suspended it would be Reed and Lukić who would be tasked with adding steel to our midfield in hostile surroundings.

Fulham started in a composed and organised fashion. With the hosts struggling to maintain possession, we were successfully finding pockets of space in the opposition half. After some neat interchanges and a quick tempo, it was Iwobi who had the first good chance of the game in the 14th minute. A long ball was expertly headed into the path of the Nigerian midfielder by Rodrigo Muniz, but his effort went wide from just outside the box. 

In the 18th minute, with Fulham growing in confidence, Iwobi again had a superb chance to test André Onana in the United goal. A swift counterattack and a delightful sequence with Wilson saw the defence part with overloads present on each flank. Despite time to pick his spot the shot went a fraction wide of the post. 

With the theatre of dreams silenced into an atmosphere tantamount to a lazy summer’s afternoon at Lord’s a rasping drive from Diogo Dalot skimmed the outside of the post and briefly awoke the fans from their stupor. 

In the 33rd minute we were knocking on the door once again. Iwobi this time turned provider as a perfect ball across the box found the feet of Muniz. With plenty still to do the in-form striker manufactured some space expertly using power and poise before thundering a right-footed shot off the outside of the post. 

After Harry Maguire was fortunate to remain on the pitch for an awfully timed lunge on Lukić, Onana was called into action to parry a sumptuous curling effort from Andreas Pereira wide. 

As the referee brought the first half to a close, Manchester United had started to slowly work their way into what had been a one-sided affair. It was a superb first half showing from Fulham, with plenty of endeavour and fluid play. 

The second half stuttered to a halt shortly after getting going. An aerial dual between Casemiro & Reed culminated in a nasty clash of heads with both players receiving prolonged treatment. 

After dominating proceedings again for the opening spell of the half, Fulham finally made their deserved breakthrough. An out swinging corner from Pereira was planted directly into the path of Bassey at the near post. After snatching at his first effort the ball fortuitously deflected back off Timothy Castagne and to the feet of the powerful defender once again. Second time around his connection was clean, and the ball arrowed into the roof of the net. Deadlock broken in emphatic style. 

In the 79th minute a swift counterattack from Fulham almost saw the lead doubled. Excellent work on the edge of our own box from Tom Cairney saw the substitute win possession off Scott McTominay and bounce off a challenge to press forward into the opposition half. With United committed, TC slipped a perfectly weighted ball into the path of Wilson. After opening his body the Welshman curled an effort agonisingly wide of the post. 

With 90 seconds of normal time remaining the hosts drew level in scrappy circumstances. A speculative shot from Bruno Fernandes from the edge of the box was parried by Leno. After following the shot in Maguire was on hand to prod the ball home to the delight of the home fans. 

With the tide well and truly turning it was Fulham who grabbed victory at the death. With the home fans eagerly anticipating victory, Adama Traore had other ideas. The explosive winger coolly won the ball deep in our own half before surging past two United players and leading the counter. After meandering to the opposition box, the Spaniard took his time to feed Iwobi, who slotted home with aplomb. A move epitomising the composure, collective belief & class shown by Fulham all afternoon long. 

A beautfiul victory, and Fulham’s first at Old Trafford since 2003.