Fulham

Simon Stone
Chief football news reporter

Image source, Getty Images

In what has not been the easiest season to be a Fulham away regular, this was a day to remember.

Only once since 1963 have Fulham returned from Old Trafford victorious.

So many of the frustrations endured during that time were swept away over 99 glorious minutes.

The thing about this victory was not just that Fulham deserved it. They obviously did that. From defence, through midfield and into attack, they were the better side.

Alex Iwobi was superb throughout, Andreas Pereira more creative than anyone in his old club's ranks and Rodrigo Munez a danger in attack.

But Fulham were also mentally strong. Already this season, Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa have caved in as the pressure rose amid a United comeback.

With Harry Maguire equalising and nine injury-time minutes left to play, Fulham seemed ripe for picking off.

But they refused to buckle. And by the time Iwobi struck, the fire had gone out of the hosts play. This really was a brilliant day to be a Fulham fan.

• Alex Iwobi’s winner for Fulham at 96 minutes and four seconds is the second latest winning goal ever scored against Manchester United in the Premier League, and the latest goal on record (since 2006-07) scored by the visiting team at Old Trafford in the competition.

• It was Fulham’s latest winning goal on record in the Premier League (since 2006-07). Iwobi now has four Premier League goals this season, his most in a single campaign.

• Fulham earned their first away win against Manchester United in all competitions since October 2003, ending a run of 16 visits without a win (D2 L14).

• Manchester United have now lost eight home games in all competitions this season – it’s their most since 2020-21 (also 8) - they last lost more in a single campaign in 1973-74 (9).

• Calvin Bassey’s opener was his first ever goal for Fulham, and his first goal in club football since October 2022 for Ajax against FC Volendam.

• Andreas Pereira created five chances in this match, the most by a Fulham player away against Manchester United in the Premier League since Luis Boa Morte in August 2006 (also 5).

Manchester United were given a harsh reality check at Old Trafford as Alex Iwobi's injury-time effort gave Fulham only their second Old Trafford victory since 1963.

Four days after new co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe spoke of United attempting to knock Manchester City and Liverpool off their perch at the top of the English game, they suffered a major blow to their hopes of Champions League qualification.

Without injured striker Rasmus Hojlund, the hosts were ineffective in attack until the final minute of normal time, when Harry Maguire seemed to have rescued a point for the hosts.

But Iwobi had the final say deep into nine minutes of stoppage time, restoring an advantage initially given to them by Nigeria defender Calvin Bassey, who lashed home the loose ball after his header from a Fulham corner had been blocked by team-mate Timothy Castagne.

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There are six games being played in the Premier League on Saturday and we will bring you every moment.

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BBC pundit Chris Sutton is making predictions for all 380 Premier League matches again this season, against a variety of guests.

For this weekend's games, he takes on former England striker Jermain Defoe.

Sutton's prediction: 2-1

Manchester United keep on winning - Sunday's success at Luton was their fifth in a row in all competitions - and I'm pleased to see Rasmus Hojlund has carried on scoring too.

Fulham were very unlucky to lose to United at Craven Cottage in November, but their away form is not the best. They have only won once away in the league all season, against Everton on the opening weekend.

I don't think this will be easy for United, because Fulham are a dangerous counter-attacking team, but Erik ten Hag's team are playing with more freedom at the moment, which is why I think they will win.

Jermain's prediction: 2-1

Read all of Sutton's predictions for this weekend's games

Here are the key facts and figures before Saturday's game between Manchester United and Fulham in the Premier League.

• Manchester United are unbeaten in their last 16 Premier League games against Fulham (W13 D3), since a 3-0 away loss in December 2009.

• After a run of two wins in eight Premier League games in December and January (D2 L4), Manchester United have won all four so far in February. They last had a 100% win rate in a month in which they played five or more Premier League games in January 2009.

• Fulham have won just 24% of their Premier League away points this season (7 out of a possible 29), the lowest ratio in the division. Since beating Everton in their opening game of the season, the Cottagers are without a win in 11 games on the road (D4 L7).

• Rasmus Hojlund has scored in each of his last six Premier League appearances. The only Manchester United player to score in more consecutive games in the competition is Ruud van Nistelrooy (a run of 10 games in 2003 and eight games in 2001-02).

• Rodrigo Muniz has scored in each of his last three Premier League games, netting four of Fulham’s six goals in total. Before this run, he had gone 23 league games without a goal for the Cottagers and former club Middlesbrough.

Marco Silva has been speaking to the media before Fulham's match against Manchester United on Saturday.

Here are some of the main lines from his news conference:

• On team news, Silva said: "We're assessing Willian. Apart from Raul [Jimenez], everyone should be available. [Armando] Broja wasn't well for the last match but he’s ok."

• On January loan signing Broja, Silva said: "He's working hard. Different clubs have different styles [of play]. It takes time to adapt and we can see his quality on the training pitch."

• On Rodrigo Muniz's form: "Rodrigo got his chance and stepped in and showed his quality. He's had spells in the season where he hasn't scored, or injuries have stopped his run, but now he's playing well and I’m really happy for him."

• On the possibility of playing Broja and Muniz together as a strike partnership, Silva said: "Right now it's not something we are using. We are not starting normal games with two strikers."

• On opponents United, Silva said: "They are more confident, if you look at them they are achieving so many good results home and away. They have top players who can decide a game in any moment. It's going to be a challenging one for us but we are ready to fight for the three points."

• On being without suspended midfielder Joao Palhinha at Old Trafford, Silva said: "We are definitely stronger with all the players available, but it's not the moment to talk about Joao. The chance is going to be there for someone to take and I hope that the player can come in and can show quality."

Joining a new club can be really difficult and it's not always easy to get off to a flying start.

I had this situation when I joined Fulham. In the first couple of games I got an injury, I came back and then I got a red card. It was a three-match ban and then when I came back again I had another little bit of a hamstring injury and I remember just thinking 'this has turned into a disaster', I was hardly playing any games.

However, I had Chris Coleman as my manager and he was sensational. I couldn't have asked for somebody better at the right time to put his arm around me and saying, 'we'll get there, I've got the belief in you'. I thought that was really good of him and that is what helped me through. He said, 'don't worry, I've got you. You're going to be my captain, you're going to be a real leader in this team' and that's what I did.

Even though you still train every day, you know you're letting him down and you're letting yourself down when you're not playing so well, you get niggles and you get sent off. But then my career went well enough at Fulham in the end, I played lots of games, had some great results and we had a great time.

In the end it was short lived and Coleman got sacked. That's one thing I think Fulham shouldn't have done. We got through the difficult situation that we were in and that changed me. That is one of my regrets in that Fulham scenario when Coleman left.

We talk about managers these days changing minds and just leaving, but that was one I didn't want to see go out the door and I think it had a big effect on everybody at the football club. You saw the decline until Roy Hodgson came in and then eventually they did recover from it.

Michael Brown was speaking to BBC Sport's Nicola Pearson

Fulham vice-chairman Tony Khan says the club will consider offers that "make sense" for midfielder Joao Palhinha. (Talksport), external

Want more transfer news? Read Wednesday's full gossip column

Sammy James
Fan writer

Saturday's defeat by Aston Villa was a bit of a bump back to Earth for Fulham after a decent little unbeaten streak. It was a tight game that was narrowly won by the better side. Ollie Watkins was ruthless with the two big chances that came his way.

For the first time in a very long time, Marco Silva had pretty much a full squad to choose from. Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey have returned from the Africa Cup of Nations, plus Tosin Adarabioyo and Kenny Tete were back in the squad too. However, they all started on the bench, presumably because Silva wanted to ease them in.

The key question for Silva now is whether to make a few big changes.

Bassey and Iwobi dramatically improved the side when they came on. I think it is time to bring both back into the starting XI. I also think Tosin and Tete deserve a chance to start as well. It might be a bit bold to make so many changes at once, but I think arguably they all improve the line-up when fit.

The one player who I would not change just yet, though, is Rodrigo Muniz, who continues to impress up front. He has scored in every league game in February so far. If he can bag again against Manchester United, he will surely be in the running for the Premier League's player of the month award.

His transformation this month has been brilliant to see and the goal he scored on Saturday was a real poacher's finish. I really hope he can continue his scoring touch in the upcoming matches.

Sammy James can be found at Fulhamish, external

Gareth Southgate is monitoring Fulham midfielder Harrison Reed before next month's friendlies against Brazil and Belgium. (Mail), external

Want more football gossip? Read Tuesday's full column

We asked you for your thoughts on Saturday's Premier League match between Fulham and Aston Villa. Here are some of your comments...

Fulham fans

Alex: Fulham were very slow in the first half, not creating enough chances. However, the second half was much better after we introduced Iwobi. Not very happy with the referee's decisions but not much more that we could do. Unlucky.

Bob: We have so many shots on goal in some games but we can't finish. It's good that Muniz is scoring but we have got to be better in front of goal. Where was Broja? Harry Wilson came on and livened things up as he does. Surely early substitutions would benefit as we now have a big number to choose from? Not out of the woods yet - we need to push on.

David: Once again conceded a game by giving away soft goals, especially the first one. Good to see Muniz continue his scoring run and Iwobi looked good after returning from Afcon. Referee was poor on his Premier League debut.

Aston Villa fans

Mark: This was the most important win of the season. After the two injuries this week and an undeserved defeat last weekend, Villa have shown tremendous character to bounce back.

Kam: Much needed three points after the last game. However, we still need to be more ruthless - we should have been three or four up - but lots of good chances again, which is a positive. The Premier League is tough. It was a little bit nervy towards the end, but we dug in and got the three points. UTV.

Ed: The game should have been done and dusted after an hour or so. Moreno goal controversially offside and a clear penalty not given our way. The ref had a stinker of a game. Some of the time wasting I don’t agree with, though. We should have enough grit and determination to see a game out rather than having to resort to silly antics.

Gary Lineker introduces highlights and analysis from Saturday's seven Premier League matches.

If you missed Match of the Day, you can catch up on the action on BBC iPlayer.

Listen back to BBC Radio 5 Live match commentaries in full on BBC Sounds:

Burnley v Arsenal

Man City v Chelsea

Joe Rindl
BBC Sport journalist

Image source, Getty Images

For the first hour at Craven Cottage, Fulham looked sloppy.

For the final 30 minutes they were superb.

Let's start with the positives. The Cottagers seem to have a real gem in Rodrigo Muniz who netted his fourth goal in three games and looked a threat throughout.

After he reduced the deficit to one, Fulham poured forward. Only two fine, late saves from Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez kept the hosts behind.

As for the bad news, defensively, Fulham were very poor.

Antonee Robinson's throw-in put Willian in a world of danger and Villa were able to break forward to score their opener.

The second goal came from Fulham's centre-backs backing off and leaving Ollie Watkins in acres of space to fire into the net.

"We were punished by the mistakes we made," Fulham boss Marco Silva admitted to BBC Match of the Day after the match.

"We cannot concede goals the way we did it. We were too sloppy, we were too open in those moments. They score and punish us."

It seems Fulham, who are away to Manchester United in their next match, will be doing defensive drills in training next week.

Marco Silva on BBC Match of the Day after Fulham's defeat to Aston Villa: "The reaction was there, the desire to go again. The 2-1 lifted ourselves and was an important moment. After that we had our chances to equalise. unfortunately we didn't.

"We were punished by the mistakes we made. We cannot concede goals the way we did it. We were too sloppy, we were too open in those moments. They score and punish us.

"Even so we kept believing and forced a goal. We lifted ourselves and the last 20 minutes was everything for Fulham. We pushed them back. We created one-on-one situations. Clear chances to equalises the game and unfortunately we didn't.

"We did not achieve the result we wanted, which I really think we deserved for the reaction we did.

"The players are on the pitch and have to make decisions. Sometimes they are at a very good level, sometimes they are not. We have to work with them and have to improve."

On Rodrigo Muniz, Silva added: "He is a young lad, but he is a young lad who is improving and learning. I really believe he is going to be better and better, game by game. He has the skills to work with and improve. He is scoring goals which is always important for a striker."

• Aston Villa have won their last 10 Premier League games against teams from London, beating Fulham three times in that run, with only Liverpool between March 2019 and June 2020 managing a longer streak in top-flight history (11).

• Fulham suffered just their second home Premier League defeat in their last eight games (W5 D1), and their first in four, since losing 0-2 to Burnley in December.

• In his first 50 Premier League games in charge of Aston Villa, Unai Emery has accrued 30 wins and 98 points (D8 L12), five more victories and nine more points than any other Villa manager in that milestone.

• Only Dwight Yorke in 1995-96 has registered more goal involvements in a Premier League season for Aston Villa (27) than Ollie Watkins in 2023-24 (23, 13 goals, 10 assists).

• Fulham winger Adama Traore made his 200th appearance in the Premier League (157 for Wolves, 27 for Middlesbrough, 10 for Aston Villa, 6 for Fulham), the 11th different Spaniard to do so and the first since Ayoze Pérez in May 2021.

Ollie Watkins scored twice as Aston Villa bounced back to winning ways with a narrow victory at Fulham in the Premier League.

Jacob Ramsey pinched the ball off Willian after a poor throw-in from Antonee Robinson and set up Watkins who slotted Villa into a 23rd-minute lead.

And the England forward deservedly doubled his tally when he buried Youri Tielemans' through-ball just after the restart.

The hosts were gifted a way back into the match as Rodrigo Muniz capitalised on a mix-up between Villa keeper Emiliano Martinez and defender Clement Lenglet.

But Unai Emery's side were ultimately able to hold on, having lost their previous two matches.

Were you at the match or did you follow it from home?

Fulham fans - let us know your thoughts on the game here

How did you rate the side's performance, Villa fans?

Follow all of the reaction here

There are seven games being played in the Premier League on Saturday and we will bring you every moment.

Follow all of the action and reaction here

All times are GMT