Manchester United vs Fulham. Premier League.
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Report and free match highlights as Manchester United started their season with an unconvincing 1-0 win over Fulham; Joshua Zirkzee netted the winner on 87 minutes after coming off the bench; the £35m striker scored with just his seventh touch of the game
Friday 16 August 2024 23:10, UK
Joshua Zirkzee announced himself at Manchester United by scoring a late winner on his debut to secure an unconvincing 1-0 win over Fulham for Erik ten Hag's side.
The £35m striker, a new signing from Bologna, came off the bench and provided a deft flick on fellow substitute Alejandro Garnacho's cross with three minutes of normal time remaining, after United had struggled to break down Marco Silva's side.
With Ten Hag trusted with a third season at Old Trafford by new co-owners Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, the campaign began with three points but with many issues to solve as Fulham had the better of the first quarter, with Keny Tete forcing Andrea Onana into a good early save from 25 yards.
United improved in the first half and began forcing the visitors into errors, one of which saw Bernd Leno pass straight out to Casemiro, who fed makeshift starting striker Bruno Fernandes but the Fulham goalkeeper atoned for his error by saving well. Minutes later, Leno denied the Man Utd captain again from close range after a good move from the hosts.
Leno was at it again after the break as he denied Mason Mount from close range. Meanwhile, at the other end, Onana had to be alert to tip Rodrigo Muniz's deflected acrobatic volley over his bar.
United brought Zirkzee on for his debut with half an hour to go, but the substitution initially failed to make an impact. If anything, Fulham looked more dangerous on the break with Andreas Pereira wasting two good openings on Adama Traore-led breaks with wasteful passes.
But with minutes remaining, Zirkzee turned in Garnacho's delivery with just his seventh touch of the match, to spare Ten Hag's blushes and get a winning feeling to Old Trafford at the start of the new campaign.
There was still time for Garnacho to produce an early contender for miss of the season as he failed to turn home Marcus Rashford's square ball with the goal gaping.
But it needn't matter - United begin the season with a win, but only just.
Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag told Sky Sports: "It showed that subs are very important. It's great in the first game to bring on a sub and he ends up winning us the game. It's good for the team process and the spirit of the group.
"Against Fulham, it's always a difficult game but we pressed very well and we kept them under pressure. We created a lot of chances and should have scored earlier. That's my only criticism of the team that we needed to kill.
"We know how important it is to keep clean sheets. Two seasons ago we kept the most number of clean sheets in the Premier League.
"When we have our consistent back four, we will defend properly with a high line and the midfield and wingers can get forward. Without a consistent back four, there is no pattern and routines and that's when gaps appear."
Sky Sports' Gary Neville at Old Trafford:
"It was steady and unspectacular from Manchester United. They had to win and it didn't look like they were going to for large parts of that game.
"It was critical that they won and the clean sheet was important. Defensively they will be better than they were last season and bringing on defenders, the squad looks bigger and thicker. It wasn't spectacular football but given the way they set up, I didn't expect it to be.
"It's generally positive. For Zirkzee to come on and score the winner, to have that sort of presence to replace Rasmus Hojlund when he's not fit was important. United have struggled in that position for a couple of years.
"The squad is better, there's no doubt about that as they were embarrassing and pathetic at times last season. You didn't know what was going on."
Fulham manager Marco Silva to Sky Sports:
"It is really tough for us to lose this game the way we lost. The game had different moments, we started really well, I think the first two dangerous moments were from ourselves. The first one we should have scored, a really dangerous attack from us.
"We had so many moments and we were punished at the end of the game. It was a crazy game and we did not play our own game. It was an emotional game, we tried to rush many, many times.
"We did not get the points I thought we deserved. We have to keep the emotional control in these types of games. We know they are strong and want to play this type of game. It's always their strength when the game is broken and the space is there. We should have kept the balance and emotional control."
Sky Sports' Sam Blitz:
The No 7 is a digit seeped into the culture of Manchester United and Old Trafford and it struck again in Friday's 1-0 win over Fulham.
While Joshua Zirkzee wears No 11 for United, the deft flick from the Dutchman to win the game - his seventh touch of the game after coming on at the hour mark - has created a feel-good factor at the club, for now.
It was another far from convincing display from United. It was last season's levels of 'tough watch', as Marco Silva's side looked dangerous every time they went over half way. Parallels can be drawn between how they opened last season - a tense 1-0 win over Wolves where Andre Onana was fortunate not to concede a penalty late on. Their season failed to take off from there but needs to now.
And it looks like Erik ten Hag was right: his side aren't quite ready for this season yet. Diogo Dalot still continued to struggle in a left-back role that misses Luke Shaw, two centre-backs were tactical substitutions while chasing a goal with five minutes to go, while Marcus Rashford, who failed to have a single shot against Fulham despite playing the whole game, still looks far from his best.
Ten Hag's challenge is to make sure this win does not paper over the cracks - and as his new-look squad and club hierarchy continue to gel, they learn from their mistakes.
