'We were naive' - Harry Maguire makes honest admission about Man United's performance vs Fulham

Harry Maguire believes Manchester United were 'naive' by committing so many bodies forward in an attempt to win against Fulham, which led to their matchwinner.

United were undefeated in 2024 before facing Fulham and they had momentum behind them, but they were lacklustre from the first whistle and struggled to get going.

The away side created more chances in the first half and were unfortunate not to be behind by the break. Erik ten Hag made no changes at half-time and Fulham finally broke the deadlock after the interval, with Calvin Bassey finding the back of the net from a corner.

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United struggled to respond, but Maguire produced an equaliser in the 89th minute and Old Trafford exploded into life, sensing that a later winner could be on the cards.

There were nine minutes of added time and the crowd urged United to get forward, but Fulham took advantage and scored a dramatic, late winner through Alex Iwobi.

Fulham deserved the win and the defeat means United are now eight points behind Aston Villa, who sit in fourth position in the Premier League table.

Maguire was asked by Optus Sport whether he thought United had done enough in the game and he said: "Not for the first 60 minutes or so. We started the game not great.

"The first half was pretty even, we had chances, they had a few chances, but when you're not playing at your best and things aren't going quite right, you have to do the basics well.

"You have to defend any set plays as part of that and we knew at half-time they were causing a threat in that area and they've gone and scored early on in the second half from what we knew.

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