Will Unwin was at Old Trafford and his report has landed. Here it is! Thanks for reading this MBM. Nighty night.
Marco Silva speaks to Sky Sports. “It is really tough for us to lose this game the way we lost … the first two dangerous moments were from ourselves, the first one we should have scored … the second half was much better in my opinion … we had our chances … we had to punish them … we were punished at the end of the game … we did not get the points I thought we deserved … we should have kept the balance and emotional control … it was a good answer from the team overall.”
The table as it stands. Yes, yes, but let’s do it anyway.
| Pos | Team | P | GD | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Man Utd | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 2 | AFC Bournemouth | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 | Arsenal | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | Aston Villa | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | Brentford | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | Brighton | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | Chelsea | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | Crystal Palace | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | Everton | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | Ipswich | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | Leicester | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 12 | Liverpool | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 13 | Man City | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 14 | Newcastle | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | Nottm Forest | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 16 | Southampton | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | Tottenham Hotspur | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | West Ham | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 19 | Wolverhampton | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 20 | Fulham | 1 | -1 | 0 |
Erik ten Hag speaks to Sky. “Subs are always very important … it was good to see first game that we bring a sub and he scores the winner … it’s very good for the team process and spirit within the group … everyone sees how important subs are, and that they have to be ready … against Fulham it is always difficult … they are very good on the ball … but we kept them under pressure … we created a lot of chances … we should have scored earlier … it’s my only criticism of the team … they should kill in the box … a clean sheet is very important … when we have a consistent back four we will compete properly … if you don’t have a consistent back four, gaps will come … I am very pleased with Mazraoui’s performance … now he has to build his fitness … scoring for a striker is important and [Zirkzee] should be where he was to kill, but he has more qualities … we want him to link up also … it is just the first game but it is good … belief and confidence … but also the performance is OK … I have seen phases where we have to improve but it is normal for the first game of the season.”
A delighted Joshua Zirkzee – who was named player of the match - talks to Sky. “To win here on my first home game, and to grab a goal, it couldn’t be better! … I’ve been told that scoring at the Stretford End is one of the best feelings at Manchester United so I’m blessed to experience it in my first game … it’s an amazing feeling … I can’t explain it, it’s just very nice … the squad is very nice, people are very warm, it’s a great team, we want to achieve something great … it’s been a dream, actually … I’ll take it day by day and work hard … it is a huge club so you should always strive for the best … it’s all good vibes! … it’s a good feeling, it’s very nice … [the player-of-the-match award] will be on top of the shelf at home!”
Old Trafford celebrates more in relief than joy – though joy will be playing its part – and both sets of players embrace. It wasn’t a classic. You could make a case for both teams, the momentum shifting back and forth, with plenty of chances being passed up, but it was erratic Manchester United who found a way near the end, as they so often did during their long period of Premier League dominance. A sign that Erik ten Hag is slowly bringing back the glory days? We’ll know for sure after another 37 games. Fulham meanwhile will be pleased with their performance, if not the result. One properly executed Andreas Pereira through-ball away from success, but a display that augurs well for the rest of their campaign.
FULL TIME: Manchester United 1-0 Fulham
Fulham had their chances in the second half to grab a shock win. But it was United who took theirs! Joshua Zirkzee gets his team off to a Premier League flyer on debut!
90 min +4: Proper comic cuts as Bassey takes a fresh-air swipe at a clearance, allowing Rashford to tear clear down the left. Rashford draws Leno and rolls across to tee up Garnacho … who somehow shanks wide right with the goal gaping! But it won’t matter.
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90 min +3: The game gets super-scrappy, and it looks as though United have done enough. “I feel like I’ve watched this United game 100 times in the last decade,” writes Sean Orlowicz. “Play meekly at home to a team with drastically less financial means and win off a shin kick.”
90 min +2: Fernandes bursts into space down the left. His low cross nearly finds Zirkzee, but Robinson clears. Two would be cruel on Fulham.
90 min +1: Pereira delivers, United clear for a throw. Before it can be taken, Lukic and Pereira are replaced by Reed and Stansfield.
90 min: Martinez clatters into Tete near the right-hand corner flag. A chance for Fulham to load the United box. There will be four additional minutes.
89 min: That was a cute finish from the big man to turn a cross that didn’t look particularly dangerous into a precious assist. What a way for the Dutch international to start his Manchester United career!
88 min: … and so the hundred-year wait for a goalless draw between these two teams goes on!
GOAL! Manchester United 1-0 Fulham (Zirkzee 87)
Just as it looks like the game is fizzling out, Zirkzee sticks out a leg to divert Garnacho’s low right-wing cross into the bottom left! Debut goal!
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86 min: Fulham slow it down a bit. Nerves crackling all around this famous old stadium.
85 min: “He wants to play for Fulham,” trill the denizens of the away end.
84 min: McTominay – Fulham transfer target and late-goal specialist – replaces Mainoo.
83 min: Dalot crosses from the right. There’s nobody in red anywhere near. Leno catches and flops to the floor in the modern clock-management style.
82 min: Garnacho speeds down the right again, crossing low for Rashford, who is denied a tap-in from close range by the sliding Tete’s heel. Leno gathers the intercepted ball.
81 min: De Ligt comes on to make his United debut. A huge cheer. Maguire departs with a slight limp. Mazraoui’s debut comes to an end, though, as Evans replaces him.
80 min: Garnacho blazes down the right and passes infield for Fernandes, who uses Zirkzee’s decoy run down the left to make himself some space. But having carved out a pocket, he curls weakly towards the top right and it’s easy for Leno.
78 min: A double change for Fulham as Traore and Muniz are replaced by Wilson and Jimenez.
77 min: Robinson slips a low cross in from the left. Muniz can’t quite sort his feet out, ten yards from goal, and eventually Maguire and Casemiro combine to crowd him out. United are living on the edge a bit now.
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76 min: Two corners from the left lead to a third in the sequence from the right. Pereira takes. Bassey juggles the ball on the edge of the D but can’t keep the pressure on United, who eventually clear their lines. But there are a lot of nervous people in Old Trafford now, and it’s Fulham’s fans who can be heard the loudest.
74 min: The resulting free kick is easily intercepted by Fulham, who flood forward three on two. Cairney slips Robinson into space on the left. A low cross intended for Muniz is hacked out for a corner by Martinez.
73 min: Cairney is booked for agriculturally flipping Garnacho into the air.
72 min: Traore battles for the ball 35 yards from the United goal and earns himself another opportunity to shoot. This time he gets an effort away, but it’s deflected high into the air and gathered by Onana. Old Trafford is getting audibly nervous as Fulham start to make a couple of half-chances.
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71 min: Cairney bustles down the left and rolls infield for Traore, who has the opportunity to shoot but hesitates. The chance is gone.
70 min: Now Pereira is booked for attempting to take a quick free kick out on the right flank, only for Martinez to step in the way. It’s not totally clear why.
68 min: To be fair to Maguire, he did all he could, and held his position well. But Pereira took an unnecessary extra touch and clapped an awful pass straight at him. Full marks to the defender, but you can bet your last bronze centime that Iwobi will have things to say to his team-mate after the game.
66 min: Pereira takes possession of a loose ball in the middle of the park – Martinez having rashly clattered into Muniz, taking both out of the game - and suddenly Fulham are two on one! Iwobi waits in acres to his left, preparing to be released. Only Maguire is back … and Pereira clanks a dismal pass straight at the defender, who becomes an accidental hero. A huge chance for Fulham goes begging!
65 min: Rashford’s low cross from the left is smacked clear by Robinson before Garnacho is able to arrive on the scene from the opposite flank. That was an inviting ball.
64 min: Smith Rowe’s debut – decent, if not headline-grabbing - is over. He makes way for his club captain Cairney.
63 min: Pereira’s corner from the left nearly sneaks into the goal at the near post. It’s scrambled out for a second corner, which leads to nothing.
62 min: Muniz battles for a ball bobbling around the United box. He outmuscles Mainoo to chest down with his back to goal, before hooking a shot over his own shoulder. It deflects and nearly catches out Onana, who has to tip it over the bar before it sneaks into the top left.
61 min: Ah, just the two United subs coming on right now, as Zirkzee comes on to make his debut, along with Garnacho. Diallo and Mount – the latter feeling his ankle gingerly – make way.
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59 min: A ripple of anticipatory applause around Old Trafford as Erik ten Hag prepares to make a triple substitution. A couple of new boys plus a cup-final goalscorer ahoy!
57 min: Three crosses are sent into United’s box in the space of ten seconds. Two from Robinson from the left, one from Traore from the right. None of them are much cop. Both teams look promising going forward, up until the final ball.
56 min: Diallo bursts down the right and earns United another corner. Iwobi heads it powerfully clear. But United come again, Casemiro busying himself down the left. He cuts back for Fernandes, who lays off to Mainoo. A first-time shot is dragged wide left of goal.
54 min: One corner from the left leads to another, then Leno punches clear. This doesn’t feel like a match that’s going to end goalless.
53 min: Onana plucks the free kick from the sky calmly, then sets United away on the counter. Rashford dribbles in from the left. The ball ricochets to Mount, whose close-range sweep is blocked by Leno. Corner.
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52 min: Traore makes good down the inside-right channel before being skittled by Rashford. A free kick, 30 yards out on the right. Everyone congregates in the United box, with the exception of Pereira, who prepares to swing it in.
51 min: United, the better side during the last 25 minutes of the first half, haven’t got going since the restart. As for the prospect of a goalless draw, Peter Oh wryly observes that “it looks like we might be witnessing the match of the century”.
50 min: Iwobi has the chance to release Robinson into space down the left but overhits the pass. However Onana’s poor clearance gifts the visitors the ball straight back, and Smith Rowe wins another corner down the left. Tete flicks this one on, but Dalot clears. Fulham have clearly been told what’s what during the break.
48 min: Smith Rowe’s presence by the left-hand edge of the D forces Martinez into a strange panicked clearance, a hook towards the corner flag that Iwobi trades up for a corner. Iwobi meets the set piece by flicking it harmlessly wide left.
46 min: United are kicking towards the Stretford End in this second half, which is just how they like it. Creatures of habit, footballers and supporters all. And superstitious to boot.
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Manchester United get the second half underway. No changes. Incidentally, there hasn’t been a goalless draw between these two clubs since they met at Old Trafford in the Second Division in January 1924. Over one hundred years ago. No pressure, then, lads! None!
Half-time postbag. “Several years ago, the Wolves version of Adama Traore would regularly charge down the right and whip in dangerous crosses to Raul Jimenez’s pre-injury head for glorious goals and chances. I miss those days. I hope Marco Silva throws Jimenez on in the second half, just for old times’ sake” – Peter Oh
“Traore has fewer goals in his entire career (31) than Haaland had LAST YEAR (38). The man has speed and strength, but no goals in his boots” – Joe Pearson
“Surely it was just a clumsy Harry fall rather than a dive?” – Matthew Stephens
“I knew there was something wrong about the Olympics commentaries. It was all far too enthusiastic, life-affirming and joyful. Thank heavens that Lee Dixon is on hand again in the commentary box to remind us that skill is a chimera, success is illusory and disappointment is the fate that awaits us all” – Charles Antaki
HALF TIME: Manchester United 0-0 Fulham
Fulham had the better of it for the first 20 minutes; United improved thereafter and carved out some big chances for Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro. Both teams will be happy with some of that, and frustrated with other bits, nothing quite clicking yet. First game of the season, huh.
45 min: There will be one added minute.
44 min: United keep hold of the ball in their own half. No rush at the end of a half into which they’ve grown in confidence.
42 min: Casemiro has another whack, slicing a ball dropping invitingly on the edge of the Fulham D high into the crowd. “Given that a big criticism of Utd last season was their work rate, do you think their new home shirt is designed to look like they’re sweating?” wonders Paul McNally mischievously.
41 min: Another United free kick on the left leads to another United corner on the right. Diallo plays this one short, but when Mount eventually delivers, Bassey clears. The ball’s returned into the Fulham mixer, which leads to Maguire diving over Smith Rowe’s long-withdrawn leg in the hope of winning a penalty. Into the book he goes.
39 min: A lot of patient passing from the home side. Fulham are struggling to get a touch, never mind keep hold of the ball.
37 min: Mainoo dribbles hard down the right and wins a corner off Robinson. Diallo sends it in. Casemiro – who else? – wins a header at the far post, but heads down and wide left from close range. Another big chance for United goes by.
35 min: United string some slinky passes together, Mainoo, Mount and Casemiro combining down the middle to release Fernandes into the box. He whips goalwards instantly, but Leno is off his line quickly to close down and block. Great play all round. United are beginning to ask some serious questions now, with Fulham on the back foot.
34 min: A poor pass infield from Mazraoui on the right. But it pinballs to Fernandes anyway. He’s got space and time to shoot, 20 yards out, but is uncharacteristically indecisive. Blocked and cleared.
32 min: … but that aside, United are beginning to assert themselves after that dodgy period of ten minutes or so when Fulham were very much on top. Diallo crosses from the left but Fernandes can’t leap high enough to meet it. Goal kick.
31 min: Iwobi has the chance to release Muniz down the left but overhits the pass, allowing Onana to come out and deal with the situation.
29 min: Leno shanks a clearance straight to Casemiro, who immediately releases Fernandes down the inside-right channel. Fernandes is one on one with the keeper, and tries to pass the ball across the keeper and into the bottom left. Leno makes up for his mistake by blocking. Big chance.
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27 min: Casemiro in the pocket, 25 yards from goal. He puts his foot through the ball and hoicks it miles over the bar. Moments earlier, he’d crossed deep from the right only for Rashford to mistime his leap at the far post. Casemiro plenty involved.
25 min: Bassey is booked for an unnecessarily robust slide tackle on Mount.
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24 min: Marco Silva engages the fourth official in a heated debate over a garden-variety foul, Diallo knocked over on the right flank. The officials are not for turning. Fernandes swings the free kick into the mixer. Casemiro wins another header, and sends it over the crossbar again. The flag goes up for offside anyway. Silva ends the debate.
22 min: Tete is given all sorts of time to line up a cross from the right flank. Maguire heads the eventual delivery clear, with Muniz lurking, but penny for the press-related thoughts of Gary Neville.
20 min: Maguire creams a long pass down the inside-left channel for Fernandes, who has nobody up with him in attack. All he can do is shoot from a tight angle. The side netting ripples. Fernandes gives his team-mates the what-for. The captain not happy.
19 min: Iwobi has the opportunity to shoot from 25 yards, but tries to release Robinson into space on the left wing. Wrong idea and poor execution: the pass rolls behind Robinson, forcing the wing-back miles wide, and then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
18 min: Smith Rowe wanders into acres of space in the middle of the park and is cynically nudged from behind by Mount, who goes into the book. Mount wags his finger in disagreement, but he knew what he was doing.
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17 min: It’s Traore versus Martinez down the right again. Traore skinned his man last time round; this time Martinez positions himself well, and when Traore tries to zip past him again, eases his opponent off the ball with a perfectly timed shoulder. Goal kick. This match-up could provide plenty of entertainment tonight.
15 min: Rashford is skittled out on the left by a clumsy Pereira challenge. Free kick for United. Everyone stands just inside the Fulham box. Diallo swings it in. Casemiro wins a header but in aiming for the top left, can only send the ball sailing over the bar. Leno probably had it covered, but you wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
13 min: Fulham go up the other end, Tete forcing Onana into action with a long-range curler towards the top-right corner. A fine shot with a save to match. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
12 min: Fernandes crosses low from the left. Leno flops on it to claim. But United come again at Fulham, through Diallo down the right channel. Diallo goes down, claiming a spot kick, but the referee’s not interested. Neither Robinson nor Iwobi, on either side, made any significant contact.
11 min: Fulham have settled well and are seeing more of the ball. The home fans get loud for the first time since Rashford’s super-early offside surge as Maguire slams a clearing header 50 yards up the pitch.
9 min 01 second: On Sky Sports, Gary Neville complains about Manchester United’s press for the first, but possibly not the last, time this season.
8 min: Muniz returns the favour, teeing up Traore just inside the United box on the right. Traore leans back and blazes wildly into the Stretford End. It’s hardly an original observation, but if Traore could finish, he’d be borderline unplayable.
7 min: Traore goes on a barrelling run down the right touchline. He knocks the ball past Martinez, backing himself in a footrace. He wins it easily, tearing away from the defender. He enters the box and has the option to shoot from a tight angle, but opts to pull back for Iwobi instead. A generous decision, but the wrong one as Iwobi, then Muniz, are crowded out. United were exposed there.
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6 min: Pereira takes the free kick himself. It’s a poor one, deflected high into the air, easy pickings for Onana.
5 min: Fulham respond with some possession of their own, Iwobi popping up a couple of times out on the left, Pereira then drawing a foul from Diallo out on the right. Free kick to Fulham. Everyone lines up on the edge of the United box.
3 min: United have started confidently. Casemiro is seeing a fair bit of the ball in the centre of the park; Rashford has had a couple of gentle probes down the left too. “Looking forward to enjoying more of the Scholes-endorsed Mainoo this season and to see whether Smith Rowe thrives in those pocket areas his manager mentioned,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Watching United last season, it wasn’t so much a case of having their pockets picked occasionally in midfield, so much as being regularly detrousered altogether.”
2 min: Fulham are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half. “For Alex Iwobi, read Emile Smith Rowe,” begins Charles Antaki. “He leaves, as fellow-academy product Iwobi did, waved off with a tear in the eye and a blessing from the Arsenal faithful. May he prosper and score buckets, staring this evening and perhaps keeping one or two in reserve for the meetings with City. We’ll never know whether he leaves with regrets (though probably) or excitement and anticipation at getting a proper run in a decent team (also probably). The best of luck to him.”
20 seconds: Rashford is sent scampering clear down the left, but there’s to be no lightning start by the hosts, as the flag pops up for offside.
Here we go, then, as Fulham get the first match of the new Premier League season underway. But not before the knee of justice is taken. Andreas Pereira with 2024-25’s first kick of the ball. “I don’t have any Man U or Fulham defenders in my FPL team, so I’m confident of a 6-6 draw,” predicts Chloë Vaughan.
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The teams are out! Expectation crackles around a packed Old Trafford as United and Fulham take to the field in their fetching new Adidas strips. Three bars ahoy! Trefoils to come. The hosts in red, the visitors in white, a classic look that acts as balm for tired eyes. There’s been plenty of noise ever since United’s quartet of new signings – the aforementioned Mazraoui, De Ligt and Zirkzee, plus the crocked Leny Yoro – were announced to the crowd a few minutes ago. The 2024-25 Premier League season kicks off in two or three of your Lancastrian minutes!
Wild Pre-season Optimism corner. “The fact that we won at Old Trafford last season and that we’ll be top of the league if we win tonight is leading to an unrealistic level of excitement at Craven Cottage en Occitanie. The presence of my Fulham supporting daughter here on holiday with us is just a further sign that only one result is possible tonight. May I be the first this season to intone that it’s the hope that kills you” – Richard Hirst
“So excited for the return of ‘proper’ football. I more or less had a year off from it last season, fed up with VAR, diving, arguing with refs, timewasting, and endless, endless post-match discussion of offside calls. But I’m back, baby. I’m in the works fantasy league, I’ve organised a score-prediction competition and I’m positively champing at the bit right now.
“8.05pm: Bruno collapses in agony after Robinson scowls at him, and earns a yellow card for the Fulham player. See you in August 2025” – Nathan Fisher
“Would United losing tonight do for their season what your uncle does for the family gathering the first time he mentions ‘woke mind virus’?” – Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo
“Ten Hag didn’t deliver the goods last season. And he won’t this season” – Jeff Sax
Marco Silva speaks to Sky Sports. “There are not going to be any surprises from Manchester United, I know how they are going to line up … it is always possible to improve … we lost four or five key players … starting XI players … but we made three signings … the pre-season has been really good … some really good games … we need some new signings to make an impact … we are going to sign more players … one player for [the departed João Palhinha’s] position … [Emile Smith Rowe] is going to give us something extra in the pocket areas … I am delighted to have him with us.”
History suggests Fulham are up against it tonight. They’ve played Manchester United on 91 previous occasions, winning just 15 times and losing 56. They’ve only won at Old Trafford twice in the last 50 years. But – and in football there’s always a but, isn’t there – one of those two wins came just six months ago, and fully deserved it was too. Here’s a reminder of what happened.
Pre-season reading. Get it while your optimism levels remain at 110 percent.
A relaxed Erik ten Hag speaks to Sky Sports. “Of course we are ready … we are very excited for the new season … we want to go forward … we have a strong belief we can go forward … we developed young players … they are more mature … they really contribute … it fits the DNA of Manchester United … proactive, dynamic, speed … we worked a lot on [4-2-2-2] last season … it fits very good for us … always you have to do things better … we improved in the last games of last season and pre-season … I am happy with the process we are now in … [Mazraoui] is quick, good agility, and can contribute to your build-up and attacking game … he can go forward and is quite good on the ball … we can’t stand still [on transfers] … it depends what happens in the market … but I am happy with the squad … I am quite confident for this season … there is a lot of communication [with the new sporting directors] so we are all on one page and on board … it feels good … a good vibe in the club as well as the team … a good start is important … a good foundation for the rest of the season … not everything will be 100 percent but we must get a result, get a win.”
Manchester United give a full debut to their new right-back Noussair Mazraoui. The club’s other available summer signings, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee, are on the bench.
Fulham also have a debutant in their starting XI: Emile Smith Rowe. Jorge Cuenca, freshly signed from Villarreal, is on the bench.
The teams
Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Mainoo, Casemiro, Diallo, Mount, Rashford, Bruno Fernandes.
Subs: Bayindir, de Ligt, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Garnacho, Antony, Evans, McTominay, Collyer.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Lukic, Smith Rowe, Traore, Andreas Pereira, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz.
Subs: Benda, Reed, Jimenez, Wilson, Cairney, Cuenca, Castagne, King, Stansfield.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).
Your United XI on opening day! 🔴📋#MUFC || #MUNFUL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) August 16, 2024
The Fulham™️.#MUNFUL pic.twitter.com/x14QdVblTc
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) August 16, 2024
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Preamble
Sound on! Vision on! Welcome, welcome, welcome home to the Premier League! And to borrow the words of legendary ITN newscaster Leonard Parkin: good evening again, it’s good to be back again, so let me simply say, let’s get on with it. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
