United didn’t deserve this result... but it showed relieved Ten Hag they’re still playing for him
IT was not quite a Jurgen Klopp-style fist pump, but it was close.
And it was as animated as Erik ten Hag has been since he danced with a couple of players at Wembley back in February.
His obvious relief after Manchester United’s ill-deserved winner in stoppage-time must have been on several levels.
Relieved he will still be around for a crack at salvaging his club’s Champions League campaign in Copenhagen on Wednesday.
Relieved that the player who provided him with a precious win was HIS choice of captain – a choice for which he has been widely vilified.
Relieved that he did not have to go into any great detail about some seriously lamentable individual performances, most notably from Antony.
Relieved that his side were playing Fulham, because against most other Premier League outfits, United would have been swept aside.
Relieved that his side do not appear to do draws – Ten Hag has been lampooned for losing five Premier League games already this season, but the six wins gives him a points return that is not great but hardly calamitous.
And while the fantastic travelling support did show their frustration at times, the majority of hardcore United fans are clearly behind Ten Hag.
Their mood would not have been as euphoric had Bruno Fernandes – who had himself turned in another poor display – not clinched an unlikely win with a strike that should have been stopped by Bernd Leno.
But with a winnable game in
Denmark, followed by a Premier League home fixture against Luton Town, United now have a chance to build some confidence, and work on finding some attacking fluidity.
Despite that late Fernandes hit, this is a United team that is startlingly short of goal threat.
A haul of 12 goals in 11 Premier League games – to follow the 58 in 38 last season – tells its own story.
Mind you, Marco Silva’s Fulham are even worse when it comes to startling opposition defences, so it was no wonder we got this sort of attritional, unattractive contest.
The only thing more tedious than the football offered in the first half of this forgettable
Ten Hag must have been relieved that his side were playing Fulham, because against most other Premier League outfits, United would have been swept aside.
occasion was the bleating about a VAR involvement.
As soon as the line-drawer had deemed Harry Maguire to be fractionally offside, Scott Mctominay’s tap-in had to be ruled out because the United centre-half had tried to connect with the set-piece delivery.
Again, the time it took to come to the decision – almost four minutes – was probably the most contentious element of the incident but, in truth, those four minutes were probably the most entertaining of the opening period.
The only other talking point during those 50 minutes centred on Fulham fans protesting against extortionate ticket prices.
Good on them – but anything would have been too expensive for the dross served up before the break.
On the basis it could not be any worse, the second half was a smidgen more watchable – but only a smidgen.
An injury to Rodrigo Muniz, which left the Cottagers’ Brazilian striker in tears, will have been hard to watch for Silva. It looked like a serious knee issue and his team-mates were clearly concerned.
It was a bad day all round for the Fulham manager. His late substitutions did not work, he had to watch his players fail to clear four times before Fernandes struck, and a lone Harry Wilson volley was the only test of Andre Onana’s talents.
The United keeper passed it and his teammates passed what was, more than anything, a test of their resolve.
There was, as usual, little attacking menace, but, led by a gritty Maguire contribution, they showed some fight, some spirit and looked as though they were still playing for their manager.
And more than anything that is why Ten Hag was left punching the air.