Erik ten Hag's wildcard forward option has earned another Manchester United chance

Sometimes when your backs are against the wall and the situation is perilous it's not even a moment of quality you need, but just one of good old determination. The grit to pull through.

Fortunately for Manchester United, they got both on Saturday along with a cherry pie-sized slice of luck. The pressure was immense on Erik ten Hag as he took his side to Fulham off the back of consecutive 3-0 home defeats. A win was desperately required but difficult to find.

United were again flat, insipid, lacking in cohesion or rhyme or any sort of discernable framework. They were staring down the barrel of a bleak goalless draw until Facundo Pellistri intervened, like a blessing from above, with that spark of determination.

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The young winger was sprinting down the flank with the ball when Antonee Robinson looked to have pushed him off the ball but Pellistri slid in to direct towards the goal. Jack Flash was back on his feet to chase down the loose ball and to be in place to block Tim Ream's attempted clearance and then stick another foot in when the luck of Fulham's atrocious defending arrived and the box descended into pinball chaos.

The ball was poorly cleared to Bruno Fernandes whose poor pass to Mount was intercepted before Pellistri nipped in once again to win it back and hand it to Fernandes. The captain then produced the long-awaited quality by sending two defenders sprawling with a quick dummy and finding the bottom corner.

Like a walking defibrillator, Pellistri had kept a potential dead ball alive no less than four times thanks to his sheer doggedness. His cool composure to then