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On Friday night, Manchester United defeated Fulham 1-0 during their English Premier League opener thanks to a late goal from rookie Joshua Zirkzee. The Bologna summer acquisition made an instant impression on the Old Trafford supporters by poking home a cross from Alejandro Garnacho after coming off the bench.
In the first fifteen to twenty minutes, Fulham was the better team, with Manchester United finding it difficult to settle and their rivals looking impressive. Even though Kenny Tete doesn't score many goals, he came dangerously close to doing so when he marched forward from defense and curled a shot that was well outside the top corner, forcing Andre Onana into a nice save.In their Premier League debut, Manchester United defeated Fulham by a tight score of 1-0.
But the home team did settle into a groove, and by the course of the first half's second half, they emerged as the stronger team. Bruno Fernandes had two great opportunities to score; first, he capitalized on a mistake made by Fulham custodian Bernd Leno to attempt a goal, and then he failed to capitalize on a fantastic through ball from Casemiro. He took straight shots at Leno both times.
Before the half, Casemiro had another chance to score in the air, but he fired the ball towards the ground and saw it bounce past the bar.Few people saw Harry Maguire be penalized for diving when he awkwardly attempted to get Emile Smith Rowe to give him a penalty.
Zirkzee even hit his signature cele😭❤️❤️
— AB⚕ (@AbsoluteBruno) August 16, 2024
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Erik ten Hag’s brilliant substitution gets the job done
After introducing Alejandro Garnacho and giving Joshua Zirkzee his debut, Ten Hag threw caution to the wind, although the west Londoners held strong. As United started to run out of time, Fernandes saw another shot stopped and Tete courageously stopped a Garnacho cross that was headed for Rashford. But after 87 minutes, they discovered what they were searching for—Zirkzee broke the tie.
Together, the substitutions allowed Garnacho to swing in a pass from the right for Zirkzee to improvise a shot that went past Leno more like a deflection. This win is a huge boost ahead of a long season for Erik ten Hag’s season.