EPL: Man United’s late strike against Fulham earns unconvincing victory in opening game

Manchester United, on Friday, beat Fulham in the opening game of the Premier League.

Joshua Zirkzee climbs off the bench to score on his United debut to give Erik ten Hag’s side a winning start to their Premier League campaign at Old Trafford.

Joshua Zirkzee scored on debut to give Manchester United victory over Fulham on the opening day of the Premier League season.

United have splashed £150million on four new signings in the summer transfer window – and it was Zirkzee, a £36m arrival from Bologna, who made the difference. The Dutchman turned in fellow substitute Alejandro Garnacho’s cross late on to win it for Erik ten Hag’s side.

The goal came at the perfect time for United, who had otherwise looked uninspired at Old Trafford, but did have the better chances through Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount.

United started sluggishly but mustered the only two real chances of the first half only for Fernandes to twice be denied by Bernd Leno after being played in by Casemiro. Mount tested Leno again but Fulham looked to be holding on for a point before Zirkzee’s impact. Here are the talking points.

When the team sheet arrived at the new time of 75 minutes before kick-off, there was a brief glance to wonder how United would set up. The answer was: like they did in the FA Cup final win at the end of last season.

With Rasmus Hojlund unavailable and Joshua Zirkzee on the bench, Ten Hag opted for the now tried and tested formation of 4-2-2-2, or a narrow 4-4-4, depending on how you view it. With Marcus Rashford and Amad wide, the idea is that Fernandes and Mason Mount test the Fulham backline with runs into the box.

The strikerless formation took time to get going, but did show how it can function when Casemiro slid in Fernandes for the best chance of the first half. In general, though, it showed how important having a centre-forward will be for United this season, as the first half fizzled out.

Mirror