Matheus Cunha’s Late Goal Rescues Manchester United Draw at Fulham
Matheus Cunha struck in the 89th minute to earn Manchester United a 1-1 draw at Fulham, preventing a third defeat in a difficult week for Michael Carrick’s side.
Late Cunha goal saves United
United trailed after Lisandro Martinez turned the ball into his own net, with Fulham on course to inflict another damaging result on the visitors.
Cunha’s late intervention changed that, but the point does little to ease the pressure after United’s Carabao Cup elimination by Brighton in midweek.
- Manchester United have five points from five Premier League matches.
- The club sit 12th in the table.
- It is their poorest start to a top-flight season since 2014.
- Cunha scored the equaliser in the 89th minute.
Running figures raise intensity question
Cunha said Fulham showed greater energy in the early part of the second half, before the home side took the lead. The match figures supported his concern, with Fulham covering six kilometres more than United across the contest.
Carrick, however, dismissed the suggestion that his squad lacked physical sharpness. He pointed instead to United’s response in the closing stages and their push for an equaliser.
“It didn’t look like that to me,” Carrick said. “I was quite happy with the way we finished the game. I thought we finished the game really strongly actually and we kept pushing.”
Asked whether conditioning was becoming a broader issue, the United manager replied: “So I don’t think that’s an issue, no.”
Carrick focuses on response
The manager accepted that the opening weeks have been “not ideal”, but argued that the manner of the comeback could be useful for a squad searching for stability.
“That’s a big thing, without getting carried away with it, because we’ve taken a point and we wanted to win, but it’s part of learning as a group,” Carrick said. “How we respond, what it looks like moving forward, what our reaction is, all that. That’s part of growing as a group.”
He added that United could easily have unravelled after falling behind, praising the players for avoiding that outcome.
“Definitely today it could have gone in a different direction – 100 percent it could have,” Carrick said. “I was really pleased with the response and I think that’ll help us a lot moving forward.”
What happens next
United now have the international break to work on the issues exposed during their troubled opening five league fixtures.
They return on October 10, when Tottenham Hotspur visit Old Trafford. A result against Spurs will be vital if Carrick is to halt the slide, answer concerns over United’s work rate and begin moving the club away from the lower half of the Premier League table.
