Man Utd 1 

Fulham 0

3 hard-fought points in the first match of the season against a well organised Fulham side. As I noted last week, there seems to be a much needed compactness around this United side. Maguire and Licha were solid at the centre of defence and Casemiro and Mainoo covered the midfield area well despite some gaps appearing occasionally. On the right, Dalot had Amad in front of him and the two were good defensively but did not create enough threat in my opinion. On the left, Mazraoui had a decent debut and Rashford – well, I’m hoping RVN saves his career cause he still looked out of sorts! Bruno as a false 9 had the best chances to open the score but the Fulham keeper was quickly out to block him. Mount – I still haven’t figured out what he brings to the United game to be honest.

As the second half wore on, ETH started making changes to try and bring home the bacon. Garnacho and Zirkzee were sent on and the threat increased. De Ligt came on for his debut and Evans and Scott were also sent on. With 3 minutes to full time to go, Zirkzee started a move, Garnacho to Scott who put the ball into the box where Zirkzee had ran in and with the coolest of right foot finishes he placed it in the corner of the net. 1-0 up and only a few minutes to go  – and we should have got a second as Garnacho missed a sitter.

Fulham had their moments and could have got a point but I think United deserved the win overall. Garnacho should start ahead of Rashford. Put Zirkzee up front and Bruno instead of Mount and we should be better off… Numquam Moribimur