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MOTD- Manchester United 2-2 Fulham

By on February 9, 2014

Manchester United fans have certainly not failed in the final task set about to them by former manager Sir Alex Ferguson, to support their first new manager in over a quarter century, David Moyes, but after yet another disappointment we are nearing a time where even the most faithful Moyes followers must be losing faith in the former Everton manager.  Not only did Fulham, a side bottom of the Premier League table, keep the reigning champions to a draw on their own turf, but it marks the second failure of what was thought to be the dream pairing of Juan Mata, Wayne Rooney, and Robin van Persie in just their second match playing all together.  To make it worse Moyes’ strategy has become the laughing stock of the Premier League, while the sad thing is that people are not wrong in making it so.  United sent in an astonishing eighty crosses throughout just ninety-five minutes of play, from which not one created a goal for the home side at Old Trafford.

Even when keeping in excess of seventy percent of possession United failed to create many clear cut chances, despite dominating from start to finish too.  Moyes’ side were bossing the flow of the match in the opening minutes, yet somehow managed to actually fall behind eighteen minutes in with some calamitous defending.  Lewis Holtby dallied on the ball in the middle of the United half, and as Muamer Tankovic attracted the United defenders to him with a short check-in run, Steve Sidwell flew completely unmarked down the opening channel, where he volley Holtby’s lovely lofted ball into the bottom corner of the net from ten yards out.

Although United continued to push forward with all they had, with their crossing came the only half-chance they even created fell to Van Persie in the twenty-first minute, only for the Dutchman to blaze Rafael’s whipping cross from the right miles over at the far post, where it seemed easier to score than not.   Somehow, Fulham created the best chance of the half in the thirty-sixth minute when Tankovic broke through down the middle before laying it off to the overlapping run of Kieran Richardson, who smacked a effort over the bar from eight yards out to the left of goal.

Yet as Fulham’s defense began to tire United finally looked slightly dangerous, and really should have found an equalizer nine minutes into the second half as Van Persie teed it up for Rooney to have a go from twelve yards.  The ball looked destined for the back of the net, but Maarten Stekelenburg incredibly scooped it over the bar to keep Fulham ahead.  But finally, United scored (note that this was right after Adnan Januzaj came on as a substitute), as Mata’s volley from the right side of goal fell to the feet of Van Persie, who tapped it into the back of the net from point blank range at the far post. In classic Manchester United style the Red Devils stunningly completed the comeback moments after scoring the first goal, with Carrick collecting Fulham’s clearance of Januzaj’s cross on the edge of the box and sending a neat curler off the leg of Scott Parker into the top left corner to make it 2-1.

It was fair to say everybody expected that to be it and United to go on to win the vital three points to keep them within seven points of the top four, but Fulham incredibly grabbed a last-gasp equalizer in the ninety-third minute to shock the home crowd.  Richardson was slipped in down the left by Sidwell in Fulham’s last attack of the match, for the winger to smack a shot towards goal, which David De Gea parried.  Yet the ball fell to Darren Bent at the far post, where the forward simply headed it into the back of the open net to be the last minute hero for Fulham.  Then it really was over, but not in the way United hoped it would be, with the draw leaving them a full three wins of that coveted Champions League fourth place spot.
Man of the Match: Adnan Januzaj

About Alex Morgan

Alex Morgan, founder of Football Every Day, lives and breaths football from the West Coast of the United States in California. Aside from founding Football Every Day in January of 2013, Alex has also launched his own journalism career and hopes to help others do the same with FBED. He covers the San Jose Earthquakes as a beat reporter for QuakesTalk.com and his work has also been featured in the BBC's Match of the Day Magazine.