Late Iwobi strike ends Manchester United resurgence
Fulham's Calvin Bassey celebrates with teammates.
ALEX Iwobi’s winner, six minutes into stoppage time, ended Manchester United’s recent resurgence and reminded manager Erik ten Hag how much he will miss the three weeks he will be without injured Rasmus Hojlund.
United thought that Harry Maguire’s 89th minute equaliser had earned at least a point, with the England defender was on hand to net the rebound after Bern Leno failed to deal with Bruno Fernandes’s late shot and pushed it into his path, But with United pressing for a winner in the nine minutes of added time, Adama Traore sped away from Maguire and found Iwobi in space in the area. The winger, guilty of some early misses, made no mistake this time, with a clinical finish into the bottom corner.
Fulham took a deserved lead from Andreas Pereira’s 65th minute corner which was met by Calvin Bassey whose initial shot struck team-mate Timothy Castagne.
The Nigerian international defender showed great poise, however, latching onto the rebound and slamming the ball into the roof of the United goal.
Without Hojlund, and fellow injury victim Luke Shaw, it was a particularly lacklustre attacking performance from Erik ten Hag’s side, with young winger Alejandro Garnacho the one bright spark.
Teenage winger Omari Forson was handed his first United start, although lasted well under the hour and he struggled to make an impression, although his selection was intriguing as he was preferred to the underachieving £86 million Brazilian Antony.
Instead, with Marcus Rashford ineffective as United’s number nine, the Reds could easily have found themselves behind by the interval.
Alex Iwobi wasted two good early shooting opportunities before Timothy Castagne thought he had headed his side in front, only for Andre Onana to make a fine reflex save, with Rodrigo Muniz narrowly missing out on the rebound.
Muniz then hit a strong effort against the United post, set up by Iwobi, after spinning away from Shaw’s replacement Victor Lindelof far too easily.
So much of Fulham’s attacking threat was posed by Pereira, the former United midfielder, who proved too mobile and creative for the ponderous Casemiro or young Kobbie Mainoo to shackle.
Before the interval, Pereira forced another good diving save out of Onana as Casemiro lost the ball in midfield and United, once again, looked susceptible on the counter-attack.
But United finally found some attacking momentum as the half wore on, with Alejandro Garancho front and centre of their best moments.
His 26th minute shot, after Harry Maguire kept alive an attack from a corner, was cleared off the line by Antonee Robinson and, before the half-time whistle, Garnacho’s crisp shot was well held by Bernd Leno.
Full-back Diogo Dalot came closest to a United goal, however, with a long-range effort which struck the foot of the left-hand post.
The second half continued in similar vein, with Pereira sliding in and almost connecting with a Robinson cross on the break and Harrison Reed winning the corner which led to the opening goal, with a shot that was tipped over by Onana.
After, there were chances for Bruno Fernandes and Marcus Rashford, which were well held by Leno, before Maguire headed a good chance over from a corner, only to later make amends.
Onana 7; Dalot 6, Varane 5, Maguire 7, Lindelof 5 (Antony 90); Mainoo 6 (Diallo 80), Casemiro 5 (McTominay 52, 6); Garnacho 7, Fernandes 5, Forson 5 (Eriksen 53, 6); Rashford 5.Â
Bayindir, Amrabat, Antony, Evans, Kambwala, Collyer.
Leno 5; Castagne 7, Tosin 6, Bassey 7, Robinson 7; Reed 7 (Traore 77, 5), Lukic 7; Wilson 6 (Diop 80), Pereira 7 (Cairney 67, 6), Iwobi 7; Muniz 8.Â
Rodak, Tete, Broja, Traore, Ballo-Toure, Ream, De Corodova-Reid.
M Oliver 6.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
