Manchester United players celebrate Lisandro Martinez's winnerGetty Images

Manchester United scored in the 78th minute with what was their first shot on target

Gary Rose
BBC Sport journalist

Lisandro Martinez's deflected strike ensured Manchester United came out of a drab fixture at Fulham with all three points.

The quality of the game had been poor for more than 75 minutes as both sides struggled to create meaningful chances.

But as it looked to be petering out towards a draw the visitors snatched victory when Martinez strode towards the edge of the box before letting fly with an effort that struck Sasa Lukic and looped over Bernd Leno.

That was their first shot on target and was harsh on a Fulham side who had been the better side in the first half, but really should have taken their chances. Raul Jimenez was guilty of one notable miss when picked out by Antonee Robinson but his first touch was a heavy one before he drove a shot over the bar.

Manchester United struck late to win an even contest at Old Trafford back in August and once again they punished Fulham in the closing stages with Martinez's goal.

They did need the intervention of substitute Toby Collyer to ensure the win in the final couple of minutes when he cleared Joachim Andersen's header off the line.

Amad Diallo thought he had scored a fourth goal in his last three Premier League games deep in stoppage time, but his finish was ruled out by the video assistant referee for offside.

The win means Ruben Amorim's side have now won back-to-back games after beating Rangers in the Europa League in midweek and moves them up to 12th.

Fulham, meanwhile, remain 10th.

Win covers a largely lacklustre performance

Analysis: How 'frustrating' Hojland blunted Man Utd

The Manchester United fans who made the long journey to Fulham understandably celebrated the winner wildly, chanting Ruben Amorim's name during the closing stages.

But in truth victory papered over the cracks of another poor performance, with the winner coming thanks to a huge slice of luck with a deflection.

Prior to that Leno had been completely untroubled, with Fernandes' free-kick the only other effort of note during the 77 minutes prior to the winner.

They had arrived at Fulham with a defensive setup and the result was an unadventurous opening 45 minutes in which they barely got close to the hosts' box.

The gaps between the defence, midfield and attack were often too large, meaning United's attempts to get up the pitch fell apart as passes were easily intercepted.

But they have made a habit of scoring late goals in recent games.

Amad Diallo hit a hat-trick after the 80th minute in the 3-1 win against Southampton on 16 January, while Bruno Fernandes' 90th-minute goal secured the 2-1 win against Rangers in midweek.

While the performance as a whole was not particularly inspiring it is now three wins in their last four games for Manchester United as they look to start climbing back up the table.

'It's not 40, it's 50!' - Amorim

Fulham punished for not taking their chances

'Tough' defeat as Fulham 'better' than Man Utd - Silva

Fulham will have been kicking themselves at full-time that they failed to take something from this game, particularly as they had been the better side in the first half.

Alex Iwobi tested Andre Onana early on with a low drive, while Jimenez failed to make the most of two promising opportunities before half-time.

But they failed to build on that in the second half and that meant they were always susceptible to being punished, as it proved.

The defeat brought to an end Fulham's good form, particularly at home where they had been unbeaten since November.

Player of the match

T. Collyer
6.55
33 A. Robinson
5.88
17 A. Iwobi
5.81
3 C. Bassey
5.72
32 E. Smith Rowe
5.66
8 H. Wilson
5.63
5 J. Andersen
5.55
11 Adama Traoré
5.53
16 S. Berge
5.50
21 T. Castagne
5.48
1 B. Leno
5.41
20 S. Lukić
5.40
7 R. Jiménez
5.27
10 T. Cairney
4.95
18 Andreas Pereira
4.77
9 Rodrigo Muniz
4.72
Back to team tabs

After the opportunity to rate players has closed, the score displayed represents the average from all the submissions by BBC Sport users.

Related topics