MANCHESTER UNITED let their lead slip as they shared the points from a 1-1 draw on their trip to Craven Cottage.
A Rodrigo Muniz own-goal appeared to have saved United captain Bruno Fernandes his blushes following a skied penalty, before a Fulham fightback saw the points shared.
ReutersBruno Fernandes had a moment to forget when he failed to open the scoring early on[/caption]
GettyThere was much left to be improved for Ruben Amorim’s new-look team[/caption]
Bruno Fernandes squandered a golden opportunity to open the scoring when he blazed his penalty well over the bar in one of the few threatening moments of the first half.
United took the lead in the 58th minute when a Leny Yoro header deflected a Bryan Mbeumo corner past Bernd Leno off the back of Fulham forward Muniz.
Muniz could do nothing to stop himself handing the Red Devils the lead – despite Yoro appearing to shove Calvin Bassey in the box before meeting the ball.
Fulham struck back less than a quarter of an hour later through Emile Smith Rowe, who snuck in front of his marker Luke Shaw to poke home a near post cross.
Fulham pressed on in the dying stages of the game, but could not find themselves a winner against a cornered United outfit, and the game finished 1-1.
Here’s how SunSport’s Jordan Davies rated the Red Devils’ first victory of the season.
Altay Bayindir: 6
A mixed bag. Some good play with his feet to put Cunha through on goal in the first half and a decent save to deny King, but he has a mistake in him and he showed that again here.
Flapping at corners, putting his own defenders under pressure with unnecessarily tricky passes. There’s a reason United are still looking for a new No.1.
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Leny Yoro: 8
Looked calm and composed at the back and is well-suited to that three-man defence.
Leapt highest from a 58th minute corner to give United the lead – an area of his game he needs to improve on from set-pieces where he can be such a threat.
AlamyLeny Yoro celebrated as if he has scored the opener after forcing an own goal off Rodrigo Muniz[/caption]
Mathijs De Ligt: 5
Fairly untroubled until the middle of the second half. Perhaps could have dealt with the cross that led to Fulham’s leveller instead of letting it run into the six-yard box.
Luke Shaw: 6
A few mistakes here and there on the ball but got away with it against a blunt Fulham until he lost Smith Rowe in the box for Fulham’s equaliser.
ReutersLuke Shaw was unable to keep up with Emile Smith Rowe in the box[/caption]
Amad Diallo: 5
Looked frustrated to be stuck out wide at wing-back, mainly running backwards doing his defensive duties, which he did fairly well.
Replaced by Dalot at the start of the second half having barely got into the game.
Casemiro: 5
Booked for a laughable dive near the end of the first half, which must have played on Amorim’s mind before hauling him off.
Bruno Fernandes: 4
A really ugly penalty blazed well over when you would have put your house, car and the dog on him scoring – which is what he usually does from 12 yards.
He looked frazzled before taking it and decided against his hop, skip and jump technique that has served him so well.
Did nothing to make up for it either.
Shutterstock EditorialFernandes was distraught after he fired his penalty over the cross bar[/caption]
Patrick Dorgu: 5
Really wasteful on the ball and stifled a lot of United’s attacking intent down the left after a bright start in the opening few minutes.
Loves giving away cheap fouls too…
Bryan Mbeumo: 7
An assist to his name for Yoro’s opener was what he deserved, but did not get as much good service as he did against Arsenal.
Still, showed flashes of brilliance.
Mason Mount: 7
Carried on where he left off from the defeat to Arsenal, finding nice pockets of space and linking up really well with Cunha and Fernandes, including a neat backheel to put the latter through.
Matheus Cunha: 6
How he didn’t score in the first half is a mystery. A curled strike hit the post and then Leno pulled off a magnificent save from close range.
You can sense he is desperate to get off the mark in United colours. There will be a bit of frustration seeping into his game if it does not come soon.
SUBS
Diogo Dalot (for Amad 52): 5
Fulham’s leveller came down his side after he gave the ball away and perhaps he could have done more to stop the cross by Iwobi.
Benjamin Sesko (for Casemiro 53): 5
Still looks like he is adapting to the English game. Was rarely in the right position and sloppy with ball at feet, not that it happened very often.
AFPBenjamin Sesko failed to change the game following his introduction in the second half[/caption]
Manuel Ugarte (for Mount 69): 6
Was thrown on to bring some solidity and control to the United midfield but struggled to do so. Would have been better to keep Mount on…
Harry Maguire (for Yoro 87): N/A
Ayden Heaven (for Shaw 87): N/A
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