Man Utd 1-2 Fulham: Alex Iwobi strikes in 97th minute to hand Erik ten Hag's side defeat after Harry Maguire leveller
/dnl.eurosport.com/sd/img/placeholder/eurosport_logo_1x1.png){kind=logo}
Updated 24/02/2024 at 18:08 GMT
After such a strong start to 2024, Manchester United's season suffered another big setback as they lost at home to Fulham. It was an astonishing end to the game, with Harry Maguire seemingly rescuing a point for Erik ten Hag's side late on. But even later than that - the 97th minute to be precise - Fulham broke on a ragged home side and Alex Iwobi slotted home past Andre Onana.
Alex Iwobi of Fulham celebrates scoring his team's second goal during the Premier League match between Manchester United and Fulham FC at Old Trafford on February 24, 2024 in Manchester, England.
Image credit: Getty Images
A dramatic 97th-minute winner from Alex Iwobi ended Manchester United’s unbeaten run in 2024 as a feisty Fulham secured a much-deserved win that looked to have gone up in smoke with just a few minutes to go.
Harry Maguire’s poacher’s finish with a minute to go in normal time appeared to have saved The Red Devils after they were second-best for much of the game against the Londoners.
But after taking a deserved initial lead in the game with 25 minutes to go when Calvin Bassey powered home a loose ball from a corner, Iwobi gave the Cottagers a famous win when he latched onto Adama Traore’s perfectly weighted pass and coolly fired past Andre Onana.
Maguire had missed a header moments before his equaliser, which looked like it would be enough to preserve United’s unbeaten streak, before Iwobi's heroics.
Erik ten Hag’s side struggled without the prolific Rasmus Hojlund - who will also be out for the Manchester derby next week with injury - while Marco Silva’s gamble paid off as he made six changes to his starting team.
Casemiro was also forced off for the Reds after a nasty clash of heads with Harrison Reed, but was able to leave the pitch under his own steam.
But Fulham deserve all the headlines, as they arrested their own run of form in the negative variety, and ensured Manchester United’s Jim Ratcliffe era started with a whimper rather than a bang.
They pick up just their second win of 2024 against Premier League opposition, having also been knocked out of both cup competitions in January and starting the day nine points above the relegation zone.
But they rallied around Silva, who dropped Willian out of the matchday squad completely in favour of Iwobi and made four other unforced changes to the team that succumbed to Aston Villa a week ago.
Talking Point - Hojlund absence blunts Reds
Ten Hag opted to replace the injured Hojlund with academy graduate Omari Forson and pushed Marcus Rashford up to lead the line, but the new-look attack took a quarter of the game to get going and Alejandro Garnacho remained the most threatening home player.
It was Forson’s first senior start aged 19 and he had a quiet afternoon before being replaced on the hour, but did show moments to indicate he can be successful on the biggest stage in time.
But with Hojlund expected to be out for another couple of weeks, there’s no immediate sign of where the goals will come from as Rashford was anonymous for much of the game.
Aside from a spate of chances at the end of the first half, Fulham controlled possession for most of the game and United’s only real opportunities came when the visitors failed to clear the ball effectively.
Ratcliffe wasn’t in attendance at Old Trafford but his lieutenant Dave Brailsford was, and will surely have lots of areas to improvement to report back to the big boss.
Player of the Match - Alex Iwobi (Fulham)
Iwobi was on course for this award anyway as he was at the heart of everything Fuham did well going forward, and was only lacking a goal to complete the performance. He was on the same wavelength as Rodrigo Muniz throughout the game and their movement particularly on the counterattack was a problem Manchester United never truly dealt with.
It looked like that was to be largely in vain when Maguire drove his dagger of an equaliser home, but Iwobi had other ideas and finally found his range at the best moment possible.
Player Ratings
MAN UTD: Onana 6, Dalot 7, Varane 5, Maguire 6, Lindelof 7, Mainoo 6, Casemiro 6, Garnacho 7, Fernandes 6, Forson 5, Rashford 5.
Subs: Eriksen 6, Diallo 6, Antony 6, McTominay 6.
FULHAM: Leno 6, Castagne 7, Tosin 6, Bassey 7, Robinson 6, Reed 7, Lukic 6, Wilson 7. Pereira 8, Iwobi 8, Muniz 7.
Subs: Diop 6, Cairney 7, Traore 8.
Match Highlights
22’ - HUGE CHANCE! Fulham should be ahead by now and that's the best chance of the game so far. Unlike their previous set-piece, this was perfectly delivered and earned a flick-on that had Onana at full stretch to keep out. It bounced straight to Sasa Lukic but was at an awkward height and he couldn't turn it home.
28’ - ALMOST THE OPENER! The initial free-kick wasn't too threatening but Fulham failed to clear and it almost cost them. The ball reached Garnacho on the left of the penalty area and his curled shot had Leno beaten - fortunately for the German, Antonee Robinson was back to head it clear.
40’ - WHO WANTS IT? It's not been a game short on chances! This is proper end-to-end stuff, Mainoo almost fed Rashford for a one-on-one before Pereira almost broke the deadlock the other way with a whipped effort that was well-saved by Onana. Garnacho clearly thought he could do better moments later, producing a carbon-copy shot that Leno just tipped wide.
65’ - GOAL! MANCHESTER UNITED 0-1 FULHAM (BASSEY): You can't say it's not deserved!!! Bassey took the corner on the volley but scuffed it into Castagne, fortunately the ball rolled back to him and he made no mistake the second time, lashing it into the roof of the net giving Onana no chance! Can that spark United back into life?
89’ - GOAL! MANCHESTER UNITED 1-1 FULHAM (MAGUIRE): Leno spilled a long-range shot and it dropped straight to Maguire, who produced a poacher's finish to fire it home! It's his first of the season, but VAR are checking.
90+7’ - GOAL! MANCHESTER UNITED 1-2 FULHAM (IWOBI): WOW WOW WOW!!! Alex Iwobi has been the star player today and he finally makes it count, Traore ran the length of the field with the ball before feeding Iwobi who lashed it home and left Onana rooted to the middle of the goal! That's surely game over?
Key stat
Scan me
Related Topics
Share this article