Bruno Fernandes scored a stoppage-time goal to earn Manchester United a 1-0 win over Fulham in the Premier League on Saturday and lift the pressure on under-fire manager Erik ten Hag.
Fernandes capitalized on a poor clearance by compatriot Joao Palhinha to stroke a low finish into the bottom corner from the edge of the area just seconds into added-on time at Craven Cottage.
United rebounded from back-to-back 3-0 losses to Manchester City and Newcastle over the past week that left Ten Hag facing his biggest crisis since taking over in the summer of 2022.
“With the goal, you could see the belief of everyone, fighting for that ball,” Fernandes said after another tepid display by United, which had lost eight of its first 15 matches in all competitions this season.
“It’s really important. We know the position we are in … we need to get points to start building something. We have to start somewhere because we’ve got big games coming.”
The next one is a pivotal Champions League match at FC Copenhagen on Wednesday.
“We have to show the same passion and quality that we showed today,” Fernandes said. “I know we have even more than we showed today.”
Scott McTominay thought he had ended United’s scoreless streak when he tapped in Alejandro Garnacho’s cut-back from a free kick in the eighth minute. After a long delay to check the goal, Harry Maguire was adjudged to have been offside when the free kick was whipped in by Christian Eriksen.
Maguire didn’t touch the ball but was deemed to be affecting play because he almost connected with the free kick before it got to Garnacho.
After a listless first half, Fulham improved after the break and went close through Harry Wilson and Palhinha – who drew good saves from Andre Onana – and then Rodrigo Muniz.
The game looked to be heading for a draw until Fernandes’ intervention.
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