It is the morning after an invaluable trip to London, as Manchester United beat Fulham 1-0 at Craven Cottage thanks to a deflected strike from Lisandro Martinez.
In a scrappy affair, the game was decided in the 78th minute when the Argentine saw his strike loop over Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno and into the net.
Amad Diallo thought he had added a second goal in stoppage time, but the Ivorian saw his effort ruled out by VAR for a fractional offside.
United held on to claim a crucial victory in the capital – their eighth straight win at Fulham – which moved them to 12th in the Premier League table.
Here are our five talking points from a hard-fought contest at the Cottage.
Martinez bags the vital goal
Martinez scored his second goal of the season and was decisive in a tight affair in West London.
Three weeks after netting a fantastic goal at Anfield, the former Ajax man was the unlikely hero again as he struck with the aid of a deflection off Fulham midfielder Sasa Lukic to hand his side a huge away win.
The 27-year-old Argentina international has started to venture into more advanced positions in Ruben Amorim’s 3-4-2-1 system, and as a result, he has looked more threatening going forward.
It’s good to see Licha playing well again, and he will be an important lieutenant on the pitch for the Portuguese tactician.
Manchester United finally keep a clean sheet!
It was the first clean sheet in all competitions for the 20-time English champions since a 4-0 league win over Everton on December 1.
The Old Trafford outfit was well organised on Sunday evening and, to their credit, defended well throughout and nullified the home side’s threats.
This will be hugely pleasing for the United Head coach, and he will be eager to see more of this in the coming games.
The back three of Matthijs de Ligt, Harry Maguire and Martinez were solid and dependable throughout the game and deservedly kept their lead intact.
Collyer makes game-saving intervention
Substitute Toby Collyer made a superb goal-line clearance late on to preserve the away team’s lead.
The visitors came within inches of conceding yet another set-piece goal, but the 21-year-old midfielder was in the right place at the right time to head the ball off the line, much to the relief of his teammates.
Collyer supplied another fine cameo off the bench when he replaced the injured Manuel Ugarte, and without him, United wouldn’t have left the Cottage with three points.
Hugely encouraging signs from the youngster.
Amorim’s wing-back change
Amorim chose to swap the sides of his wing-backs for the trip to Fulham as Noussair Mazraoui started on the left, with Diogo Dalot reverting to his more natural right-hand side.
Moroccan star Mazraoui seemed to be inverting quite a bit throughout the match, whereas Dalot kept the width on the opposite flank.
Despite the tweak, the defenders were fairly ineffective in an attacking sense, and it underlined their need for reinforcements before the end of the January transfer window.
The Manchester side are still in talks with Serie A club Lecce over a potential deal for their young defender Patrick Dorgu – despite having had two bids turned down already – whilst former United player Alvaro Carreras, now of Benfica, has also been linked with a return to M16 in recent days.
Hojlund struggles to make an impact
Rasmus Hojlund returned to the starting XI, having begun as a substitute in the previous two outings, but the striker failed to make an impact.
The 21-year-old Dane struggled with his hold-up play, getting dispossessed 10 times in a disappointing first half, and he was replaced by Joshua Zirkzee early in the second period.
Ex-United defender Rio Ferdinand was critical of the former Atalanta youngster’s ability to hold onto the ball.
Speaking to TNT Sports, Ferdinand said: “Hojlund is the platform for them to get up the pitch. Man United cannot get any good possession around the final third when their number 9 is not able to hold the ball up.”
It was perhaps a slightly harsh take on a young player’s deficiencies, but Ferdinand was used to the highest standards during his playing days at Old Trafford and expects more.
Let’s hope Rasmus can improve on this aspect of his game, as there is definitely a good player there, and we have seen many glimpses of this during his United career so far.
What did you make of an eighth-straight London win for Manchester United over Fulham?
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