Late Zirkzee strike launches Manchester United's season
Manchester United's Joshua Zirkzee celebrates scoring the winner against Fulham. Picture: Martin Rickett/PA Wire.
ERIK ten Hag declared Manchester United were “not ready” for the new campaign in his eve of game press conference. Fortunately for the manager, new signing Joshua Zirkzee failed to get that particular memo.
The second half substitute ensured United started the new season with a win by finally helping his new side turn possession into a goal three minutes from time.
The £37 million former Bologna man started the move with a pass wide to Alejandro Garnacho then continued his run to meet the cross and convert with a tidy swing of his boot from 12 yards.
The 23-year old thus became the fourth Dutchman to score on his United debut - an eclectic mix of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Alexander Buttner and Donny van de Beek the others - and continued the feel good factor that has been slowly simmering at Old Trafford all summer.
But how badly ten Hag needed that goal.
The United manager, by conservative estimates, has spent around £530 million - well over half a billion quid - in his three summers of transfer dealings at Old Trafford, a statistic that raises all sorts of questions, not least, the most important one of whether or not his team has improved in that time.
Yet, as has been the case throughout his time with United, he managed to go into this opening game without a recognised specialist striker on the field.
That looked like it might cost them dearly after United survived a strong start to the season, and the game, from Marco Silva’s side and took control midway through the first half.
Not until the 26th minute, when Casemiro whacked a long shot well over from 25 yards, did United carve out a real chance but then, by the interval, they should have had their first three points of the season well secured.
A terrible pass from Bernd Leno landed at Casemiro’s feet, his pass played in Bruno Fernandes who was denied by the keeper, making amends for his earlier error.
Casemiro, whose United career looked all but over in a very sub-par campaign last season, then made a superb pass that played in Bruno once more, and once more Leno made an excellent block to deny him.
Amad Diallo’s corner was the next opening, the ball reaching Lisandro Martinez at the far post and the defender heading down and over. By the 40th minute, the sight of Harry Maguire being booked for diving in the Fulham penalty area in an attempt to win a penalty summed up United’s frustrations.
Perhaps Bruno, operating as a false nine in tandem with Mason Mount, should have made one of those chances count, perhaps new Zirkzee should have been risked from the start, as a stand-in for the injured Rasmus Hojlund, although his pre-season has been truncated.
But as happened so often last season, United were creating the chances but toiling to put them away.
It was their good fortune that, in a strong and confident start to the game, a couple of threatening Adama Traore runs ended in nothing and Kenny Tete’s superb run and shot was well saved by Andre Onana, flying to the top corner of the United net.
Yet there had been plenty of optimism swirling around Old Trafford before kick-off, the result perhaps of ending last season by beating neighbours City in the FA Cup Final then spending nearly £150 million on four intriguing signings.
All four were paraded on the pitch before kick-off although how symbolic, given United’s ridiculous injury problems, that one of them, defender Leny Yoro, was on crutches and two more not deemed match-fit enough to start.
One debutant, former Bayern defender Noussair Mazraoui, was pressed into action because of injuries to left-backs Luke Shaw and Tyrell Malacia and acquitted himself well enough on the right side of United’s back four.
But, if the main aim of the season opener was to try and shake off last season’s malaise that looked certain at one stage to cost ten Hag his job, then they were making hard work of it.
Alex Iwobi glanced a header just wide soon after the restart and Leno was forced into his third decent close-range stop of the evening, this one from Mason Mount after Marcus Rashford had produced his first attacking moment of the game.
Young midfielder Kobbie Mainoo, too, carried on where he left off in an impressive campaign and summer, with a low, long-range effort that flew inches wide of Leno’s post.
Just before the hour, Zikzee, whose introduction into the first team has been delayed by his summer commitments with The Netherlands, was thrown on to become ten Hag’s second debutant of the evening, the United supporters responding warmly in a way that suggested that, whatever doubts there are about their manager’s transfer dealings outside Old Trafford, he still has the firm backing of his supporters.
First, there was a farcical and anxious moment as a hopeful overhead kick from Rodrigo Muniz took an unkind deflection off Mainoo and had to be tipped over his crossbar by Onana and Fulham would waste two glorious counter-attacks in which they enjoyed a big advantage in numbers over the Reds.
It was all very interesting and watchable stuff, especially for a first game of the season, although proceedings were raising as many questions for United as they were offering ten Hag solutions until Zirkzee grabbed himself a little piece of United folklore..
Onana 7; Mazraoui 7 (de Ligt 81), Maguire 6 (Evans 81), Martinez 7, Dalot 6; Mainoo 7 (McTominay 83), Casemiro 7; Diallo 5 (Garnacho 60, 6), Fernandes 6, Rashford 6; Mount 5 (Zirkzee 60, 8). Substitutes (not used) Bayindir, Eriksen, Antony, Collyer.
Leno 8; Tete 7, Diop 6, Bassey 6, Robinson 7; Traore 6 (Wilson 77, 5), Pereira 7, Lukic 6, Iwobi 6; Muniz 6 (Jimenez 77, 5), Smith Rowe 5 (Cairney 63, 6). Substitutes (not used) Benda, Reed, Cuenca, Castagne, King, Stansfeild.
Referee: R Jones 7
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