The last minutes of Manchester United’s shocking 2-1 loss to Fulham on Saturday proved to be costly for Harry Maguire’s “naive” team.
The last minutes of Manchester United’s shocking 2-1 loss to Fulham on Saturday proved to be costly for Harry Maguire’s “naive” team. Erik ten Hag’s team’s prospects of finishing in the Premier League’s top four were severely damaged when Alex Iwobi stole Fulham’s winning goal seven minutes into stoppage time. After Calvin Bassey’s opening goal in the 65th minute was cancelled out by a close-range strike in the 89th, United defender Maguire appeared to have salvaged a point. But after Iwobi completed a counterattack to ensure Fulham’s first win at Old Trafford since 2003, United was found to be pushing men forward in an attempt to earn all three points.
Overall, we didn’t do enough in the first sixty minutes or so of the game to balance the score. We didn’t have a fantastic start to the game,” Maguire added.
“The first half was quite well matched, but it’s important to do the fundamentals even when you’re not playing at your best.
“Even though we were behind by a goal, I thought our response was excellent, particularly in the final 30 minutes, and after we tied the score, I think only one team would win.
“We were probably naive in the end by throwing too many bodies forward and getting done on the counter attack.”
In the competition to earn a spot in the Champions League for the upcoming season, United, currently ranked sixth, is eight points behind Aston Villa, in fourth position.
Fulham’s dominating performance deflated the excitement surrounding Old Trafford after it was confirmed that Jim Ratcliffe had purchased a 25 percent stake in the club this week. United could have no complaints.
The club’s football activities are now under the management of British businessman Ratcliffe, a lifelong United supporter, replacing the club’s unpopular owners, the Glazer family.
However, United’s lackluster display highlighted the amount of effort needed to realize Ratcliffe’s audacious goal of “taking down” Manchester City and Liverpool.
Maguire said that Rasmus Hojlund of Denmark, who had been playing well before being hurt this week, was a hindrance to United.
Rasmus has been a major focus point for us, so his injury really hurt us. However, it is our responsibility to identify the problems and areas for improvement,” stated Maguire.
We can play into him because he holds it up and initiates pressure really well. Marcus Rashford, on the other hand, has been playing excellently on the left.
“It’s the story of our season, we’ve been injury hit, as other teams have, and we need to find a solution quick.”
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