Premier League: Manchester United hold Fulham 1-1 at Craven Cottage
What's the story
Manchester United salvaged a 1-1 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage, thanks to Matheus Cunha's late deflected strike. The result eased the pressure on Michael Carrick's side, who were looking for redemption after a midweek Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton and a Manchester derby loss last weekend. The match was marred by an own goal from Lisandro Martinez in the 63rd minute.
Goal mishap
Martinez's own goal hands Fulham lead
Martinez's own goal came when he attempted to intercept a shot from Fulham's Calvin Bassey.
Instead of clearing the ball, he accidentally redirected it past his own goalkeeper, Senne Lammens.
This blunder compounded United's problems as they were flat in the 2nd half besides being passive.
"Sloppy 2nd half... no intensity, too much walking! G Nev spot on. We don't get enough people in the box when attacking! Punishment for not being ruthless when we have chances. Big 20 minutes coming up," wrote former United defender Rio Ferdinand on X.
Match highlights
Fulham show resilience with both keepers busy making key saves
Bruno Fernandes hit the post from Cunha's inviting cutback in the first half, while Bernd Leno made a series of full-stretch saves to keep Fulham in the game.
Besides the heroics of Leno, United's Lammens also made several key saves in the match to keep the hosts at bay.
However, he couldn't keep out Martinez's error.
Given how the match panned out, it's a good point for both teams.
Late equalizer
Cunha's late strike saves United
Cunha's deflected shot in the 89th minute gave Manchester United a last-gasp equalizer, saving them from defeat.
The Brazilian striker expressed his frustration after the match, saying they needed to improve in every position and should never play for just one point.
Despite this draw, the accumulation of poor performances this season has raised alarm bells in Manchester as they look to turn their fortunes around during the upcoming international break.
Information
Here are the match stats
United had 29 attempts against the home team and six of them were on target. United also hit the woodwork twice. Fulham had six shots on target from 12 attempts. United had 42 touches in the opposition half compared to Fulham's 19. Fulham created more big chances (3-2).
Information
Only 5 points from 5 matches for United
After 5 matches this season in the Premier League, Michael Carrick's United have taken 5 points (W1 D2 L2). United are placed 12th on the table. Meanwhile, Fulham are 19th after 5 matches with 2 points on board (D2 L3).
Records
Key records from the 1-1 contest
As per Opta, with five points, this is Manchester United's joint-lowest tally after five games of a Premier League season, also picking up five in 2014-15 under Louis van Gaal.
United had 29 shots at Craven Cottage, the most by an away team in the Premier League this season, as per Squawka.
There were as many as 26 attempts on goal in the first half between Fulham and United. It's the most in the opening 45 minutes of any Premier League game this season.
Twitter Post
PL standings after 5 matches!
5/38 pic.twitter.com/47uLGGki5v
— Premier League (@premierleague) September 20, 2026