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23 min: United come again. Fernandes curls a cross in from the right. It’s cleared, but Diallo is immediately threatening on the right again. The right winger looks full of beans today, but will he also have the full-back on toast?
20 min: The Fulham manager Marco Silva was booked for his remonstrations with the officials over the penalty, or the free-kick, or maybe the goal. That’s his fifth booking of the season. He still looks seriously displeased on the touchline.
Goal! 19 min: Manchester United 1-0 Fulham (Casemiro)
Eventually the free-kick is curled to the far post by Fernandes. The Brazilian Casemiro climbs highest, and buries a brilliant header back across Leno and into the net!
18 min: Penalty decision overturned!
No need to go to the monitor … VAR says it’s a free-kick outside the box for Manchester United, instead of a penalty.
16 min: Penalty to United!
Cunha gets beyond Cuenca to the byline on the United right. Cuenca, the Spaniard, gets a touch on the ball but the referee points to the spot! There is a VAR check. I fancy John Brooks will go to the monitor and overturn this in due course …
15 min: Fulham come again. The hosts’ defence is stretched and Kobbie Mainoo flies into a meaty challenge on Jimenez, who rolls around on the floor but gets nothing. Fulham’s neat passing and lively movement is keeping Manchester United honest, to say the least.
12 min: Fulham win a corner and play it short. Wilson crosses for Cuenca at the back stick, who nods it goalwards, and Andersen flicks the ball towards the net! It’s diverted out for another corner by Lammens. That was a close call for United.
9 min: Manchester United win a corner. Bryan Mbeumo fires it to the far post where Harry Maguire heads goalwards, and downwards, but it’s straight at Leno.
The ball comes back quickly in the direction of Fulham’s goal: Mbeumo is in, thanks to a ball over the top, and he’s challenged from behind by Jorge Cuenca on the edge of the box. The fans roar for a penalty and on replay it’s definitely in “seen them given” territory. But Cuenca got just enough of the ball to satisfy the officials.
7 min: Next it’s Fulham’s turn to attack – Samuel Chukwueze has a shot blocked, but Harry Wilson was offside in the buildup.
5 min: Diallo has a first sight of goal, cutting in from the right and testing Leno with a curling shot from just inside the area! The Ivorian is looking dangerous.
4 min: Both teams are pinging the ball about nicely. Fulham attack down the left when Jimenez plays an attractive first-time layoff to Smith Rowe. An ambitious shot by Joachim Andersen from outside the area flies high and wide after a cross into the middle.
2 min: United immediately look quite threatening, with Amad Diallo receiving the ball in space twice in the opening two minutes, offering plenty of width on the hosts’ right wing.
First half kick-off!
Here we go. Alex Iwobi kicks off for Fulham.
Five minutes to kick off. Are you excited?
The fan protest outside the stadium is presumably still in full swing: we’ll update you on that when we have more.
Oh, there are some shots of the crowd, and it seems plenty of fans have brought protest flags inside.
The players are lined up in the tunnel. Manchester United are wearing Stone Roses-collab tracksuit tops. Casemiro is pictured stretching his lower back. At his age that’s very sensible.
Transfer news from the other day:
“Manchester City have agreed a £27m deal to sell Oscar Bobb to Fulham, with the terms including a 20% sell-on clause. City also have matching rights to buy the Norwegian back should a fee be agreed for his sale in future.”
“Manchester United fear Patrick Dorgu could be out for a prolonged period because of the muscle injury he sustained in Sunday’s 3-2 win at Arsenal, in what would be a blow to Michael Carrick’s resurgent side. While tests are still to confirm the prognosis there is concern the Dane has a hamstring problem that will cause him to miss several weeks, with some reports stating his absence may be more than two months.”
“It’s always a tough place to come,” says Marco Silva. “I understand your question about Michael Carrick coming in, but it doesn’t matter who is in the dugout … the last two games can give them the good feelings and the confidence … but we have to handle that. We will look at ourselves. If we can play our game, we are capable of creating problems for Manchester United too.”
BTW, I initially wrote in the preamble that United beat Brighton in the FA Cup last month. That was incorrect and I apologise.
Jamie Jackson
About 12.30pm I caught Steve Crompton, of the 1958, a Manchester United fan group, at the the junction of Sir Matt Busby Way and Chester Road, about their latest protest, which is directed at Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the largest single minority owner, in addition to the Glazers, the majority proprietors.
In a nutshell 1958 want Ratcliffe and the six American siblings out. He was asked what the club might look like if Ineos chief executive and the Glazers still controlled it in a decade.
“Disneyland? Right. That’s exactly where he’s heading. And in fairness, this isn’t just Man United. You know, football in general is heading the wrong way. Absolutely wrong way. The Americanisation of the sport is happening in front of our eyes, and it’s how it stopped, I don’t know.”
There is a fan protest occurring at Old Trafford and Jamie Jackson is our man on the scene …
“Bryan’s got an eye for goal,” says Manchester United interim manager Carrick of Mbeumo. “His movement’s really good, he’s a combination player, as well as a threat in behind. I think it was just a really good mix for the first two games [City and Arsenal] … we’ve got options, it’s great to have options, and flexibility across the front line … Bryan’s done fantastic. Him and Bruno [Fernandes] have had a really good link-up and the goals have had a big impact for us.”
How does Carrick keep the players focused with all the “outside noise”?
“I think it’s important, when you’re inside here, inside the football, I think it’s all pretty calm and quiet, really. Whatever goes on outside, we can’t let that affect us, and it hasn’t. We’ve spoken about it a little bit but it’s more about what we want to do to be at our best, that’s all our “brain space” is focused on. And it has to be like that.”
He adds that Mason Mount took a little knock in training but will be back “very, very soon.”
“He’s one of those managers who wants players to run,” pundit Ashley Young says of Sean Dyche, who was just interviewed before Nottingham Forest’s home tie against Crystal Palace, also kicking off at 2pm.
As opposed to one of those managers who wants players to have a nice little lie-down, I guess.
Manchester United v Fulham teams
There is one change to the home lineup: Matheus Cunha in for the injured Patrick Dorgu, who scored a screamer last weekend. Cunha is more than capable of a screamer himself, of course.
One change for Fulham too: Kevin on the bench, Samuel Chukwueze in the starting side.
Manchester United (4-2-3-1): Lammens; Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Shaw; Casemiro, Mainoo; Diallo, Fernandes, Cunha; Mbeumo. Substitutes: Bayindir, Mazraoui, Zirkzee, Malacia, Yoro, Ugarte, Heaven, Sesko, Lacey.
Fulham (4-2-3-1): Leno; Castagne, Andersen, Cuenca, Robinson; Iwobi, Berge; Chukwueze, Wilson, Smith Rowe; Jimenez. Substitutes: Lecomte, Tete, Bassey, Reed, Cairney, Kusi-Asare, Kevin, King, Sessegnon.
Referee: John Brooks (Leicestershire)
Preamble
Manchester United are back: unbeaten in the Premier League since the departure of Ruben Amorim early last month, since when they’ve drawn with Burnley and beaten Manchester City and Arsenal. Michael Carrick arrived as interim manager before the 2-0 win against City, and last Sunday’s 3-2 triumph away at the Gunners raised general excitement to Cristiano-Ronaldo-re-signing levels.
The club remains a basket case, of course, and whoever comes in as manager on a permanent basis in the summer will face the same intractable issues experienced by Amorim during his brief and ill-fated reign. In the meantime we can sit back and enjoy Carrick, a man that knows the club, refocusing the troops and getting a bit more from a capable and extremely well remunerated squad.
Fulham are seventh and Manchester United are sixth, and a 1-0 defeat against Leeds on 17 January is the only time Marco Silva’s side have been beaten since mid-December. This is football! Let’s go!
Kick-off: 2pm UK time
