Fulham 1-1 Man United Match Report & Player Ratings

United Were Lucky To Leave Fulham With A Point

Manchester United drew 1-1 with Fulham thanks to Matheus Cunha’s 89th-minute equaliser, which took arguably a very lucky, huge deflection off a Fulham defender.

Lisandro Martinez’s own goal was a complete defensive mess, and it is safe to say that, for United fans, we were definitely very lucky to leave with a point.

Cunha's first Premier League goal of the season 🇧🇷 pic.twitter.com/hf5EgutrVs

— Manchester United (@ManUtd) September 20, 2026

The first half was one of the most boring games of football I think any United fan has watched because absolutely nothing happened, and it took over 25 minutes for there to really be any sort of shot on goal.

Things somehow got even worse after half-time, with everyone seemingly wandering around the pitch for the first 20 minutes of the second half before Martinez eventually put the ball into his own net following another defensive mess.

It was absolutely dreadful, with Gary Neville calling one spell the worst 15 minutes he had ever seen from a United side. Would I personally go that far? I do not know, because there have been too many shocking United performances over the past few years, whether that was the 7-0 loss to Liverpool or some of the batterings away at Manchester City.

Either way, there was simply nothing there, and with United now enduring their worst start to a Premier League season since David Moyes, there have to be serious questions around Michael Carrick.

United’s Lack Of Effort And Intensity Is Embarrassing

The running numbers that have come out are completely embarrassing for United fans to see, especially when United were badly outrun by a Fulham side sitting 19th in the Premier League, yet to win a game and really struggling themselves.

That tells you everything about the effort and intensity because the relegation-threatened side looked like they wanted it more than a team that is meant to be one of the biggest clubs in England.

The false-nine problems continue once again as well. Benjamin Šeško is injured, Carrick does not seem to know what to do with Cunha, he does not seem to know what to do with Bryan Mbeumo, and there are problems out wide too.

It feels like he has been relying heavily on Amad to provide something in this system, but Amad has been injured this season, and suddenly Carrick looks completely out of ideas from an attacking point of view.

There are statistics showing United have had more touches in the opposition box than anyone else in the league, but nothing seems to come from any of it.

United can get into these positions, they can work the ball up the pitch and they can have possession around the box, but there is very little end product and very little threat.

Everyone Has To Take Criticism

I think everybody has to take criticism for this performance.

Lisandro Martinez had an absolute nightmare moment for the own goal. He is not a bad defender at all and is a quality player, but what he was doing in that situation was terrible because he did not seem to be paying attention to anything going on around him.

Senne Lammens’ initial parry was also poor, so he has to take some responsibility for the goal and deserves criticism for that moment, but at the same time it could have been a lot worse for United if it was not for him.

🚨🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿THE BUTCHER LISANDRO MARTINEZ SCORES AN EMBARRASSING OWN GOAL🤯🤯🤯

FULHAM LEAD VS MAN UNITED🤩🤩🤩 pic.twitter.com/8b4zomreKc https://t.co/tItIbyonIo

— The 44 ⚽️ (@The_Forty_Four) September 20, 2026

He was probably one of the best players on the pitch.

Kobbie Mainoo was another one of United’s better players, while Bryan Mbeumo needs to be doing more overall, although in the second half it did at least seem like he was trying to make the odd thing happen compared to many of the players around him.

United fans also have to admit that the equaliser was lucky.

Cunha’s shot took a massive deflection before ending up in the goal, and without that piece of luck United could very easily have been walking away with another defeat.

Carrick Has Tactical And Mentality Problems To Solve

There are massive injury problems around this team, which is another issue, but Michael Carrick is still under serious pressure with only five points from five Premier League games.

Tactically, it just seems like there is nothing there at the moment.

It feels like Carrick is relying either on hoofing the ball forward or trying to slowly work the ball up the pitch, but United simply do not seem to have the players available to make the system work.

Amad being unavailable has clearly disrupted what Carrick wants to do, but if the whole system relies so heavily on one player being fit, then that is also a problem for the manager.

As much as this was a tactically woeful display, though, I also think there is a massive mentality problem around Manchester United.

New players seem to pick up the same mentality from the players who were already there, and no matter which group of players comes in or goes out, the mentality around United always seems to remain exactly the same.

It does not seem to change.

Right now, it does not look like these players are playing for Carrick, and some of them may even be sitting there thinking that he could be gone within a few weeks anyway.

That is a huge problem because whether the issue is tactical, physical or mental, United cannot continue producing performances like this and expecting things to suddenly improve.

Manchester United Player Ratings

Starting XI:

Senne Lammens – 7

Diogo Dalot – 2

Harry Maguire – 2

Lisandro Martinez – 1

Luke Shaw – 2

Matheus Cunha – 7

Youri Tielemans – 4

Kobbie Mainoo – 6

Bruno Fernandes – 4

Marcus Rashford – 2

Bryan Mbeumo – 4

Substitutes:

Mason Mount – 4

Joshua Zirkzee – 4

Patrick Dorgu – 5