Match report: United 1 Fulham 0

Friday 16 August 2024 22:00

Joshua Zirkzee scored a late winner on his debut as Manchester United beat Fulham 1-0 on the opening day of the 2024/25 Premier League season.

 Substitute Zirkzee poked home an Alejandro Garnacho cross two minutes from the end of the game, on a night where Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt also made their Old Trafford bows.

Prior to the Dutchman's goals, United had the better of the opportunities, with Bernd Leno denying Bruno Fernandes twice in the first half, before stopping a Mason Mount effort just after break.

Andre Onana made a couple of acrobatic saves at the other end, stopping shots from Kenny Tete and Rodrigo Muniz, during an entertaining encounter that looked like ending goalless before Zirkzee's timely flourish.

FIRST HALF - CREATING CHANCES

A slightly frantic start, which saw Marcus Rashford rush through on goal in the first 30 seconds - quickly called as offside by the assistant referee - soon settled into a period of calmer possession for the Reds.

It was the Cottagers who asked the first tricky question when Adama Traore raced down the right flank, utilising his signature pace. The resulting cut-back must have lit Alex Iwobi's eyes up when he saw the ball arrowing dangerously across the penalty area, but newcomer Mazraoui heroically intervened to steal it from his path, averting a possible early setback.

Minutes later, at the other end, it was time for Amad to begin probing down the right side himself, sprinting through two Fulham defenders and into the box before being clipped by one of the opposition pair, Antonee Robinson.

Shouts for a penalty rang around M16 but Rob Jones was unmoved, with VAR ruling there was no impactful contact in the coming together. From the fog of that chaos, opposition full-back Tete sprang a counter-attack, racing through the middle of the park before letting off a curling effort from distance. Onana was equal to the surprise, acrobatically leaping to tip it behind.

Defensive strength was a theme of the first half, solidified when Traore seized possession in a central area and attempted to race beyond United's backline. Lisandro Martinez had other ideas, coolly muscling him off the ball before seeing the ball dribble out of play for a goal kick.

Fernandes found the Reds' first big chance of the game when an erroneous pass from Leno fell into the path of Casemiro on the half-hour mark. The Brazilian dispatched a through-ball to our captain, but Fulham's gloveman was quick off his line to charge down the subsequent shot.

The duo combined again five minutes later, producing a similarly inviting opportunity, but Leno stood strong once more, before Casemiro nodded wide from a corner.

We had another penalty shout denied as the first period drew to a close, when Harry Maguire chased down a loose ball and got there before Emile Smith Rowe, fresh from his switch across London from Arsenal.

The referee was unconvinced though, and booked the Reds' defender for his troubles.

SECOND HALF - THE PERFECT INTRODUCTION

Having started the first half relatively calmly, Fulham came flying out of the blocks in the second, looking threatening from a quick succession of corners following the interval.

The Reds fielded those early blows well, however, and then started building forward, consistently winning back possession in the midfield. In the 52nd minute Rashford was set free and charged towards the left side of the opposition box, expertly poking the ball to Mount, whose effort from yards out was denied again by Leno.

United were ramping up the pressure, the crowd urging Kobbie Mainoo to take on an effort from outside the box, at the end of a well-worked move. He obliged, but dragged the effort just wide.

Erik ten Hag decided on the hour mark to strike while the iron was hot and send on some attacking reinforcements. Garnacho replaced Amad and Joshua Zirkzee took his first competitive steps in a red shirt, to rapturous applause in the stadium, as Mount made way.

It looked as though Garnacho had been tripped immediately after United had taken an attacking set-piece, but the referee saw no infringement and Fulham were off on a counter once again.

The ball ended up at the feet of Andreas Pereira - the former Reds midfielder - on the edge of the box, who fizzed it lethally across our goalmouth. Any touch was sure to produce a Cottagers' goal, but thankfully it was Martinez who was first on the scene to emphatically smash it behind for a corner.

A now end-to-end game saw Garnacho sprinting towards the opposite byline not long after, but Tete managed get just enough contact on the Argentina international's driven cross to deny Rashford a simple tap-in.

Garna wasn't finished there though and a quick United break saw the winger in possession down the right once again. This time, with time rapidly running out, he dispatched a quick cross into the box. Feeding off the pace of the ball, it was the debutant Zirkzee who got just enough contact to poke it beyond the diving Leno and secure all three points.

MATCH DETAILS

United: Onana; Mazraoui (De Ligt 81), Maguire (Evans 81), Martinez, Dalot; Casemiro, Mainoo (McTominay 84); Amad (Garnacho 60), Mount (Zirkzee 60), Rashford; Fernandes.

Substitutes: Bayindir, Collyer, Eriksen, Antony.

Booked: Mount, Maguire.

Goals: Zirkzee 87.

Fulham: Leno; Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson; Lukic (Stansfield 90+1), Pereira (Reed 90+1); Traore (Wilson 78), Smith Rowe (Cairney 64), Iwobi; Muniz (Jimenez 78).

Substitutes: Benda, Castagne, Cuenca, King.

Booked: Bassey, Pereira, Cairney.

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