Fulham 0, Manchester United 1
Lucky Manchester United extended their record of Premier League games won at Craven Cottage to eight in a row with a late deflected goal scored by Lisandro Martinez – their only shot on target.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe win moved the Reds up to 12th as the Reds recorded a first clean sheet in 14 games.
And Ruben Amorim’s men now go to Bucharest on Thursday to try and secure knockout Europa League football without needing to play the extra playoff round – and to secure a third consecutive win in all competitions for the first time this season.
Even with Antony gone from the squad – he left on loan to Real Betis – there was no room in the match day squad for Marcus Rashford again.
And the lack of cutting edge once again The Reds recorded just one shot on the Fulham goal as they barely threatened the Cottagers – their hosts had two shots on target from 5 in total and edged the first half.
Noussair Mazraoui won a free kick following a foul by Timothy Castagne early in the second half and Bruno Fernandes’ set piece went into the side netting as the game showed signs of life.
Unfortunately for United, they could not muster a shot to test Bernd Leno.
But United got a lucky break with 12 minutes to go when Alejandro Garnacho pulled the ball back which was only cleared as far as Lisandro Martinez.
The Argentine defender’s fierce shot then took a wicked deflection off Sasa Lukic which sent it spinning over the German and into the back of the net for his second crucial goal of the season after he had scored at Anfield against Liverpool earlier this month.
It was the Reds’ first shot on target and Ruben Amorim recognised the lucky break and tried to shut up shop with Kobbie Mainoo and Tyrell Malacia coming on for Garnacho and Mazraoui.
Fulham had to switch to all-out-attack and Toby Collyer cleared off the line as normal time ran out.
And United thought they had finished off their hosts in the 95th minute but Amad’s coup de grace was ruled out by VAR for a marginal offside leaving the Reds with a nervous two minutes to hold on to their slender lead.