Fernandes strikes late as Man Utd win 1-0 at Fulham

LONDON : Manchester United stopped the rot as captain Bruno Fernandes struck in the 90th minute for a 1-0 victory at Fulham in the early Premier League game at Fulham on Saturday.

The game was petering out into a lacklustre stalemate when Fernandes latched on to a loose ball on the edge of the area and drilled a low skidding shot inside the post.

Successive 3-0 home defeats in United's worst start to a season since 1962 had piled pressure on manager Erik ten Hag and victory at Craven Cottage will release that somewhat.

But while the victory was most welcome, questions still remain about where United are heading under the Dutchman after another rather shapeless display.

A third successive narrow away win in the league lifted United to sixth with 18 points for 11 games ahead of the rest of the weekend programme.

Fulham, who were twice denied by great saves by Andre Onana in the second half and will count themselves unlucky, are down in 14th with 12 points.

Fernandes has come under fire in recent weeks with former Manchester United title winners Gary Neville and Roy Keane both suggesting he should have the armband taken away after some petulant performances.

But he answered with a crucial goal when his team needed it most, although the win may only be papering over cracks.

The only talking point of a mundane first half was Scott McTominay's disallowed goal for United after seven minutes.

Christian Eriksen's flighted free kick was turned across the area by Alejandro Garnacho and McTominay arrived to dispatch the ball high into the net.

But United's celebrations were cut short, eventually, after a drawn-out VAR check with referee John Brooks going to the monitor to rule it out on the basis that Harry Maguire, who was initially