Manchester United defeated Fulham 2-1 at Craven Cottage to go back to the summit of the Premier League table. Ademola Lookman scored an early goal for Fulham but the home team failed to keep their lead for a long time.
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Edinson Cavani pounced on Alphonse Areola’s mistake to net the equalizer. A stunning second-half strike from Paul Pogba was enough to reclaim their top spot on the table.
The Red Devils rest at the first spot with 40 points in 19 games. Manchester City is sitting just around their shoulders with 38 points and with a game in hand. On the other side, Fulham’s defeat caused them to stay in the 18th position with 12 points. Let’s see the top 5 talking points from the game.
5. Bruno hits 50
Bruno Fernandes moved to Old Trafford last January and in just one year, he has made 50 appearances for the Red Devils. The Portuguese midfielder has been virtually ever-present in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s team. In 50 appearances, Bruno has scored 27 goals and assisted 17 times. He is the second-highest contributor to goals & assists in Premier League this season, behind only Harry Kane.
The 26-year old midfielder hit the post from the edge of the box, just before Edinson Cavani’s goal. A few minutes later, Alphonse Areola made a spectacular save denying Bruno a goal at his landmark appearance. All-in-All, his £47million move from Sporting Lisbon to Manchester United has been sensational and inspiring for the whole club.
4. The magical away run continues
Manchester United is now 17 games unbeaten when playing away from Old Trafford. This is their joint-highest streak which was previously achieved in the season 1998-1999. The Red Devils suffered their last league away defeat at Anfield on 19th January 2020. It’s more than a year and still, no team has failed to find a way to beat them. A stunning feat!
Fulham scored the early goal when Ademola Lookman broke through United’s offside trap and slotted the ball into the bottom corner. But this has happened 6 times already this season. Man United, when traveling away, has allowed the home team to score the first goal.
After going behind, they woke up to score two goals and win the three points. In fact, Manchester United has gained the most points (21 points) from losing positions in 2020/ 21. Truly, the comeback kings.
3. Do you still doubt Paul Pogba?
Within a space of one week, Paul Pogba has helped Manchester United to win 6 points by scoring match-winning goals. First, it was against Burnley last week and now against Fulham. Even against Liverpool, he found himself in a good position but his poor finishing stopped him from scoring the goal.
Pogba started the game in the midfield alongside Fred. He started the game poorly when he failed to track Lookman’s run thinking of it being offside. In the 65th minute of the game, he dribbled away from the challenge of two Fulham players and fired a shot from his weaker left foot. Alphonse Areola’s full stretched dive wasn’t enough to equal Pogba’s sublime effort. If the Frenchman continues to perform in this form, Manchester United will have a real shot at the Premier League title.
2. Can Fulham stay in Premier League?
Before the start of the season, many pundits regarded Fulham to go down very easily. A dismal start to the season for The Whites solidified their predictions. But since the last month, Fulham has done well to grind out some results. The game in which they have lost have been because of some fine margins. Yes, they have lost two consecutive games against Chelsea and Man United but they weren’t far from taking a point from both of them. Scot Parker has done an amazing hope to revive his defense. If Fulham can improve on their goal scoring ability, we might see them in Premier League next season as well.
1. What an exciting title race!
3 league leaders in the space of one day. This is how intense the competition is at the apex of the table. The day started with Leicester City being at the top but then Manchester City’s 2-0 win against Aston Villa took them to the summit.
Before the start of Manchester United’s game against Fulham, Solskjaer and his men were actually in the third spot. But, another three points have aided them to leapfrog both Leicester and Man City. With all the uncertainties due to Covid-19 and the failure of teams to perform consistently, we might have an enticing title race on our hands. Who do you think will wear the crown of the league champions? Let us know in the comment below.
