Four things we learnt as United edge Fulham 1-0 in rare away win

Manchester United travelled to Craven Cottage looking to return to winning ways in the Premier League against Fulham.

Andre Onana was brought back into the team after Altay Bayindir played in the Europa League match versus Rangers.

Noussair Mazraoui returned to the starting line up and Diogo Dalot took up his usual spot in the starting eleven.

Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt made up the back three. Manuel Ugarte returned to the midfield and was partnered by Thursday night’s match winner, Bruno Fernandes.

Amad returned to a more attacking position with Alejandro Garnacho and Rasmus Hojlund starting alongside him.

Here are four things we learnt from the match.

United are toothless in attack

The Red Devils came into the game as the third lowest away scorers in the league and the first half at Craven Cottage was good evidence to why.

Ruben Amorim’s side have become known as slow starters and regularly found it hard to progress the ball to their final third.

One of the manager’s biggest issues to fix is the lack of cutting edge in attacking areas and this was shown in that United did not manage a shot in the first 30 minutes and only managed one shot in the whole half.

The away supporters made their frustration known when they chanted “attack, attack, attack” at their team as the ball was regularly played backwards instead of pushing into the Fulham box.

Amad performs better as a wing back

The Ivory Coast international has been United’s main man this season and alongside Bruno Fernandes, looks by far the side’s most potent offensive weapon.

Amorim’s 3-4-3 system is heavily dependent on wing backs and United arguably don’t play with any when Dalot and Mazraoui start in these positions.

United are trying to rectify this with bids for Lecce’s left wing-back Patrick Dorgu but they seem to already have a solution on the right.

Amad recently scored a hat trick against Southampton from a wing-back role and was important in their recent victory over Rangers in the Europa League.

When he plays further forward as one of the number 10s, he struggles to get on the ball and influence the game as much as from out wide and it seems that Amorim’s team always appear more threatening when he directly attacks from the right.

Rasmus Hojlund needs a loan

With the lack of attacking options at Old Trafford, United are in no position to loan out Hojlund.

Nonetheless, the first half was a horror show for the Dane as he lost the ball numerous times and looked clueless holding the ball up against the Cottagers.

Sadly, this is a recurring theme for the Red Devils and once more he looked all at sea against a Premier League defence.

Clearly the United boss agreed as he was replaced after 58 minutes by Joshua Zirkzee.

It is unfair to totally blame the Denmark international as United rarely provide good service to their striker but he must learn how to get himself involved better if he is to make a name for himself in the Premier League.

In an ideal world, United would bring in a more experienced Premier League striker who is more street-smart in the rough and tumble world of being a forward in England’s top tier.

Martinez continues comeback

The Argentine has hardly been at his best this season but he has started 2025 in a very positive way.

He scored United’s first goal at Anfield since 2018 and played a beautiful ball for Fernandes’ late winner against Rangers.

The defender has also been a lot more solid recently at the back and got on the scoresheet again with a fine long-range effort versus Fulham that broke the deadlock.

There was an element of good fortune with the deflection but he has enjoyed the liberty of playing in a back three to step up into attacking areas and United are starting to benefit from his adventurous play.

Featured image Clive Rose via Getty Images

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