Fulham 0-1 Manchester United
It was an ill omen when the Evening Standard – not normally a cheerleader for the Whites – headlined its preview of Saturday's midday match 'How Fulham can exploit gaps to leave Erik in a deeper hole'.
OK, the reporter can rightly claim that his subheadings of 'United's porous midfield', 'Unbalanced at right-back', 'Defensive errors' and 'Aerial weakness upfront' were mostly borne out by what ensued. Unfortunately, Fulham were singing from a different songsheet – probably BB King's Same Old Story. Things were going (more or less) right – until they went all wrong.
As anticipated Marco Silva started with Andreas Pereira, Harry Wilson and Rodrigo Muniz, who had all contributed to the midweek victory over Ipswich.
Muniz made an early impact on Harry Maguire; the defender recovered after treatment, but seemed dazed. The first football of any note came with a United free kick for which the home side seemed ill prepared.
Scott McTominay penetrated a static defence and put the ball in the net, but the goal was overruled because Maguire was too close to Bernd Leno not to be interfering with play – VAR decision that took too long, but at least showed a sensible interpretation of the offside laws.
Ticket protest
On the 18th minute, the home fans held up yellow cards protesting the 18 per cent increase in some admission charges.
If individual tickets are snapped up despite an excessive valuation the club may well consider raising the price of season tickets and lowering any concessions.
Underperforming
It had been clear for weeks that we would be watching a match between two underperforming teams and there was little quality in the performance of either side. The Whites had the edge in the first half but not one of their eight shots was on target.
The match continued tamely after the interval. Diogo Dalot might well have scored but for Calvin Bassey's timely intervention. Otherwise, Fulham were dominant and United's keeper Andre Onana even had a couple of saves to make, from Wilson and Joao Palhinha.
Willian had tried hard, but it was not his day and he was one of the players withdrawn by Silva. Whereas it was United's changes which seemed more effective. In added time, substitute Facundo Pellistree attacked down the right and when Antonee Robinson failed to stop him, Tim Ream intervened only to give the ball away and then Palhinha did the same – twice.
It was not the result of playing from the back. These experienced footballers seemed to have lost concentration. Bruno Fernandes on the edge of the penalty area was in no mood to waste this last gasp opportunity. He evaded Palhinha and Sasa Lukic and deceived Bernd Leno.
Same old story
Last season in the corresponding match (which also staged a Remembrance ceremony), Alejandro Garnacho scored the winner with the final touch of the ball. The November ceremony, always impeccably performed and observed, seems more moving every year.
United fans will have gone home satisfied last Saturday but the match scarcely represented good value for the higher prices.
Fulham's shooting was mostly abysmal. One effort by Alex Iwobi came looping towards me only to swerve in the final mini-second; my daughter headed it to safety. We may not sit as far back at Row Z but, believe me, we are placed nowhere near the goal.
No more clappers or free scarves. Please hand out some crash helmets.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
