It was another lucky day at Craven Cottage for Manchester United as they secured a nervy 1-0 win against Fulham on Sunday, their eighth consecutive away win at the ground.
The performance was far from good but Ruben Amorim will be pleased that the team managed to grind it out and claim all three points.
It was also only the second time under the Portuguese that the Red Devils have kept a clean sheet and the first one to come away from home.
The visitors had only one shot on target, which happened to be Lisandro Martinez’s deflected shot that ended up looping over the Fulham keeper to hand the Red Devils all three points.
Lisandro, the match-winner
The Argentine has not had a great season by his own high standards with defensive mistakes creeping into his game which has deservedly earned hi criticism.
But things seem to be slowly turning around for him as seen from his recent goal contributions. In fact, he has registered four goal contributions under Amorim, more than he managed in two-and-half seasons under Erik ten Hag.
That is partly to do with the system with the centre-backs having the luxury to step up with or without the ball as they have cover behind them.
Apart from the goal, the World Cup winner was excellent at the back and his post-match comments about substitute Toby Collyer showed what a great character he is in the dressing room.
And Amorim will also be mightily impressed with the academy graduate again. Since his Arsenal cameo, the 21-year-old has played in each of the following games with the coach trusting him over Casemiro again.
Collyer makes an impact again
And he had a great impact after coming on as a substitute. Plenty of times we see substitutes take their time to get into the game but the ex-Brighton academy starlet showed no such nerves.
Fulham’s late corner seemed to be heading for the back of the net but the England U21 international’s stunning goal-line clearance preserved United’s lead and ensured the 20-time English league champions left London with all three points.
He possesses a great engine, and works extremely hard out of possession, something the coach demands from all his midfielders.
And usurping a five-time Champions League winner in the pecking order is also no mean feat and he is fully justifying his coach’s trust in him.
There remain concerns about the form of Rasmus Hojlund who looked like a boy among men, as he constantly got outmuscled and hardly won a duel.
Amorim needs a ruthless finisher capable of playing with his back to goal but it does not look like INEOS can deliver that player in this window.
Feature image Clive Rose via Getty Images
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Ayantan Chowdhury
Ayantan has worked for 10 years in the Indian sports media industry, writing for the biggest newspapers and websites but his heart was always set on writing about his favourite club. Currently an editor at The Peoples Person. You can follow him on X: @ayantanc_25
