HULL CITY 0, MANCHESTER UNITED 1
- Marcus Rashford wins it in “Fergie Time” at Hull City
- Rashford gets England U21 call
Hull manager Mike Phelan knows more than most about injury time goals for Manchester United but he was on the receiving end of an especially harsh defeat as the Reds continued their winning run at the rainswept KCOM stadium.
Sir Alex Ferguson’s final assistant manager before his retirement, and now the Hull City caretaker manager, he’s witnessed his fair share of injury time winners for the Reds – they have now scored 18 in the Premier League – and saw another at the KCOM stadium when substitute Marcus Rashford got on the end of a Wayne Rooney cross to tap in the winner with seconds to go.
Rashford, at 18, became the youngest goalscorer in a Mourinho team in the week that he was dropped from the England squad and named in Gareth Southgate’s U21 team for a qualifying march against Norway on Tuesday September 6.
Phelan was sanguine about the late hammer blow after the game, although he did recognise the irony of “Fergie Time”.
“Normally its six minutes; we only got four minutes this time!” said Phelan.
“It was down to one lapse in concentration one minute from the end of the game.” he added.
Jose Mourinho was delighted to have won it in “Fergie Time” after it seemed that they were going to be frustrated by Hull, but played down his side’s great start to the season – pointing out that they had to do more than just start well to win the league.
He said: “We tried to bring new solutions to the game. We tried and tried and finally we got it.”
“Our objective is to be champions. We don’t only want to start well, we want to finish well too.”
Defeat for Hull was harsh reward for the hard work done by the plucky promoted side who had won both their Premier League games before welcoming United to the KCOM.
The Reds found Hull in no mood to capitulate with captain Curtis Davies providing stern resistance with some important blocks and interceptions to ensure that the Hull goal stayed unbreached.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic may have done his best to light up the proceedings in East Yorkshire with an extravagant back heel, while Tom Huddlestone’s shot was deflected off Eric Bailly and David Meyler might have won it in the 89th minute with a clear chance of his own as Hull rallied in the second half.
But it was Rashford, who had earlier tested Eldin Jakupovic with a shot, meeting Rooney’s touchline cutback from two yards out, who stole all three points at the death.
MANCHESTER UNITED EFL AND EUROPA CUP DRAWS
During the week, United were drawn away to Northampton Town in the third round of the EFL Cup.
And the Reds were also drawn in Group A of the Europea League alongside Fenerbahce, Feyenoord, and Zorya Luhansk (of Ukraine).
The draw offers the chance of a first return to Old Trafford for former striker Robin Van Persie since he left in July 2015.