Before Fernandes took advantage of careless Fulham play to produce an extremely rare moment of excellence in the game, United hardly gave Fulham’s goal any concern.

In a 1-0 victory over Fulham on Saturday, MANCHESTER UNITED CAPTAIN Bruno Fernandes scored the game’s winning goal in stoppage time, relieving some of the increasing pressure on Erik ten Hag.

After another lackluster display at Craven Cottage, United appeared destined to lose for the sixth time in their first 11 Premier League games.

However, Fernandes’ effort from outside the box in the 91st minute proved to be too strong for Bernd Leno, providing some respite for his manager.

With the win, United moves up to sixth place and is just five points out of the top four.

Ten Hag called Marcus Rashford’s choice to go to a birthday celebration at a nightclub “unacceptable” following the team’s 3-0 loss to Manchester City the previous Saturday.

Rashford was part of the midweek Carabao Cup loss to Newcastle, but the Dutch coach stated that his absence from the matchday squad was due to injury rather than disciplinary action.

After a forgettable week, United needed a strong start, and after only seven minutes, the ball was in the net for the visitors.

While Ten Hag’s attackers have been having trouble finding the net, Scott McTominay has shown to be the most dependable provider of goals in recent weeks.

After Bruno Fernandes’ free kick entered the area, the Scotland midfielder turned in Alejandro Garnacho’s first-time pass across the six-yard box.

Before the ball reached Garnacho, Harry Maguire attempted to play it from offside. Despite not appearing to touch the ball, he was found to have interfered with a defender, and a four-minute VAR review resulted in the strike being disallowed.

After that, United’s blundering attack seldom ever posed a significant threat to Fulham’s goal.

After yet another appalling effort, Ten Hag hooked Antony around the hour mark. Rasmus Hojlund’s hunt for his first Premier League goal continues following a lackluster showing.

Since Aleksandar Mitrovic left to join the Saudi Pro League, Fulham has also had trouble scoring goals.

Only nine goals have been scored by Marco Silva’s team in their first 11 games, and they will regret not exerting more of a strong early second-half pressure.

Joao Palhinha and Harry Wilson both had strong shots that Andre Onana was forced to parry, while Willian missed another excellent opportunity.

Up until Fulham shot themselves in the foot in stoppage time, United appeared poised for their first draw since April.

After Palhinha failed to clear twice, the ball eventually broke to his international teammate from Portugal.

After a poor start to the campaign, Fernandes has been one of the main targets for criticism.

Even though Leno got a hand to his effort, he calmly cut onto his right foot and shot into the bottom corner, giving United a spark of inspiration just when they needed it.

Following the loss, Fulham is still seven points above the relegation zone in 14th place.