Player ratings: Fulham 0-1 Manchester United

George Rossiter returns with the player ratings

Fulham fell to another agonising defeat to Erik Ten Hag’s side, as for the second season in a row, United concluded a below par Craven Cottage visit with an injury time winner. Fulham had given another good showing of themselves and were comfortably the better team in the second half, but this season’s issue of struggling to score goals once again proved to be our downfall.

Bernd Leno

Leno had a couple of shaky moments in the first half on the ball, spooning a couple of passes out for Man United throw ins under pressure from a pressing forward. Ultimately though, for 90 minutes he did what he always did and kept the ball out the net, mostly from Bruno Fernandes. Unfortunately, in added time, the Portuguese midfielder had the last laugh, with his effort slipping underneath the arm of the despairing German goalie. 6.5/10.

Timothy Castagne

Looked to push Garnacho high and wide from the off to avoid the tricky Argentine from affecting the game and isolating him in any one-on-one scenarios. When faced with Man United attacks, often from Rasmus Hojlund in the channels, Castagne did well each time. It’s find to hard a right back as good as Kenny Tete but we’ve certainly signed a brilliant option in his position. 7/10.

Calvin Bassey

Let’s have it right, Calvin Bassey is going to be a brilliant player for us. He’s versatile, showed again in this game how good he is defensively. He’s also got a rare ability in a centre back to confidently bring the ball forward into the midfield and beyond. However, watching him pass with his right foot continues to be painful. It’s not his fault, of course, but if in a year’s time, say, he’s partnering Tosin in a league game, I will be a very happy man. 6.5/10.

Tim Ream

Continues to be the calm, composed leader in the backline. Thiago Silva, Ashley Young and James Milner are the only Premier League regulars older than Ream, it’s not bad company to be keeping. If Bassey steams forward, Ream provides stability in his absence. His defending of our penalty area and dominance in the air from Man United crosses was extremely impressive. 7.5/10.

Antonee Robinson

A bit hit and miss in the first half, a few rash errors creeped in with a rash tackle here and misplaced pass there, but for the most part Antony had very little impact on the game so it’s hard to criticise the American too much. The full back was extremely aggressive in getting forward in the second half as Fulham looked to hit United on the counter attack and did well against a really good defender in Wan-Bissaka 6.5/10.

Joao Palhinha

The pundits on TV before the game were absolutely spot on, Manchester United really could do with a player like Joao Palhinha, and to be honest I don’t think there’s many teams in the world that wouldn’t want him. His ball retention was incredible on a number of occasions and showed his importance in transitions as he started a number of dangerous counter attacks. His dominance against a Man United midfield was really quite something. 8.5/10. – Man of the match.

Alex Iwobi

Used his energy really well throughout the game to pick up a number of loose second balls in the midfield, something we know Marco likes in a midfielder, specifically from Harrison Reed normally. Iwobi was the catalyst for a number of our attacks, running with the ball at pace to move the ball from midfield into attack. If we’re being critical, his shooting, particularly from range, was quite poor. 7/10.

Andreas Pereira

Actually didn’t start too badly and started getting on the ball in positions you’d expect an attacking midfielder too, but far too often the final pass was wasted by the Brazilian in the final third. His usual press was missing, whether that was tactical or not, it was an obvious difference in his game. And the longer the game went on, the less impact Pereira had on it, which is an all too common feature of his performances in recent months. 5.5/10.

Harry Wilson

Looked a bit tentative on the ball in the first half, as has been an issue a bit too often in league showings of late, despite goals both for Wales and in the League cup against Ipswich. In the second half, Wilson started to grow into the game and eventually forced a good save from Onana with a strong long-range effort. 6/10.

Willian

Dipped in and out of the game admittedly, but looked really dangerous when he wanted to be. Wan-Bissaka found himself high up the pitch a couple of times and in those moments Willian looked to be the man that would unlock the United defence with space to run into. A couple of powerful efforts from range came close but ultimately didn’t quite find the target. 6.5/10.

Rodrigo Muniz

A huge show of faith for Silva to start the young Brazilian, but Muniz repaid the faith and put in a really promising showing. Took the fight to Harry Maguire well, in a game where England’s centre back played really well despite recent media attention. His hold-up play was very impressive and when he finally got a chance in front of goal from a 65^th minute corner, he thundered a header just over the bar. Hopefully his injury isn’t serious because he’d earned his chance and seeing him leave the field in tears was gut-wrenching. 7.5/10.

Substitutes

Carlos Vinicius

Subbed on after 76 minutes for Rodrigo Muniz

Changed our attacking intent by pressing high but a chance in front of goal never quite materialised. 6/10.

Sasa Lukic

Subbed on after 76 minutes for Willian

Never really looked up to the pace of the game and had a couple of sloppy touches in midfield, didn’t cover himself in glory defensively for the goal either. 5/10.

Bobby De Cordova Reid (subbed on after 82 minutes for Andreas Pereira), Tom Cairney and Raul Jimenez (subbed on after 91 mintues for Alex Iwobi and Harry Wilson) all came on too late to be fairly rated.