As poor results continue to arrive at an alarming rate, Erik ten Hag’s job security at United looks increasingly under threat.
Back-to-back 3-0 defeats suggested that the trip to south-west London was close to a must-win for the Red Devils boss, and his side appeared to have taken the lead within eight minutes when Scott McTominay tapped home Alejandro Garnacho’s first-time pass across the face of goal.
However, when it rains it pours - as the old saying goes - and, after a lengthy VAR intervention which included a trip to the pitchside monitor for referee John Brooks, the strike was chalked off due to Harry Maguire being in an offside position in the build-up.
Only four sides had found the back of the net on fewer occasions than either of these two sides prior to kick-off, and the lack of clinical edge was painfully obvious at both ends of the pitch. In fact, a relatively tame Fernandes effort that was easily held by Bernd Leno was the only shot on target of the entire half.
Marco Silva’s side, therefore, remain without a first-half goal at home in the PL this term and, considering their opponents’ struggles, this may well have been a missed opportunity to break that particular duck.
Admittedly, the general quality of play could not get much worse, but the improvement after the interval was drastic.
The visitors were the first to threaten, with Garnacho twice forcing Leno into important stops, before Fulham twice came close to breaking the deadlock around the hour mark.
André Onana had effectively been a spectator up until that point, but the Cameroon international produced a spectacular stop to deny Harry Wilson’s volley before parrying João Palhinha’s effort from close-range to safety.
The opportunities kept coming for the Cottagers, with Calvin Bassey’s shot from an Andreas Pereira corner cleared off the line.
Just as the game appeared to be meandering towards a goalless share of the spoils, a moment of magic decided the destination of the three points.
Club captain Fernandes was under pressure on the edge of the box, but kept his cool to shimmy the ball not once, but twice, before placing a shot into the bottom corner despite Leno’s best efforts.
The manner of defeat will be a bitter blow for Silva and Co., who are now without a win in five, while this could be a sliding-doors moment for Ten Hag as he looks to instigate a United revival.
Flashscore Man of the Match: João Palhinha (Fulham)
