Man United left deflated after Iwobi late, late show
Manchester United’s recent air of optimism was punctured last Saturday (Feb 24) as Alex Iwobi’s 97th minute winner handed Fulham their first win at Old Trafford since 2003.
The completion of Jim Ratcliffe’s minority stake in United last week and a spell of good form had brought hope of a fresh start for the Red Devils.
United had won their previous four Premier League games to rekindle hope of qualifying for next season’s Champions League, but the 2-1 defeat to Fulham leaves them eight points adrift of Aston Villa.
Ratcliffe has revealed his ambition to topple Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the English game within three years.
But the work that lies ahead of the British billionaire on and off the field was exposed as Fulham dominated a ragged United for long spells, taking the lead through Calvin Bassey before Iwobi’s late, late winner.
“We went for the win but by the end we let them slip away,” said an increasingly under pressure Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag afterwards.
United’s neighbours Manchester City were once again far from their flowing best but managed a 1-0 win against Bournemouth with in-form Phil Foden scoring.
At the other end, Ederson was required to save City from dropping two costly points when he kept out Dominic Solanke’s header on the line by the finest of margins before Enes Unal’s header shaved the post in stoppage-time.
The result means City are now on 59 points, just one point behind leaders Liverpool, having played the same number of games.
Arsenal sit one point behind City in third after they demolished Newcastle 4-1 at the Emirates Stadium thanks to goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, Jakub Kiwior and a Sven Botman own goal.
It was a sixth successive league victory for Mikel Arteta’s side, who have also registered 15 goals in their last three league matches.
Aston Villa opened up a five-point lead over Tottenham in the battle for a top-four finish with a 4-2 win over Nottingham Forest, who remain just four points above the relegation zone.
Oliver Glasner got off to a dream start as Crystal Palace manager with a 3-0 win over second bottom Burnley, Wolves beat Sheffield United 1-0, while West Ham defeated Brentford 4-2, with striker Jarrod Bowen scoring a hat-trick.
Everton were denied a huge win in their battle to beat the drop by Lewis Dunk’s 95th minute equaliser for Brighton in a 1-1 draw at the Amex.
However, the Toffees received positive news on Monday when it was confirmed that an independent appeal board had reduced the club’s penalty for breaching Premier League financial rules from 10 points to six, lifting the team to 15th in the table with 12 games remaining.