African Cup of Nations finalists Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey combined to down Manchester United 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday.
The Super Eagles duo, back from Ivory Coast where they played in the Africa tournament finale against the hosts, both struck goals as the Cottagers won their first game at Old Trafford since 2003.
Fulham struck first when Bassey scored in the 65th minute, firing his own rebound into the roof of the net. United defender Harry Maguire equalised in the 89th minute and the home team looked poised to salvage at least a point.
But Iwobi, who earlier squandered two good chances, swept a shot past Andre Onana into the bottom corner of the net in the 97th minute following a counter-attack to leave the home fans shell-shocked.
Despite the shock defeat, Red Devils coach Erik ten Hag remains defiant and reckons his team can still make the top four.
Ten Hag says: “I said from January on we are [playing] finals, and we won many finals. Now we lost one final.”
He adds: “You have to see the bigger picture and the bigger picture looks very good. We have to catch up in certain positions, get the injuries back, because then we will be more in balance.
“We are going in the right direction. And when we have the players of the squad available, we have a very good team.”
United, who lost for the first time in six league matches, are sixth in the table on 44 points, eight behind fourth-placed Aston Villa. Fulham are 12th on 32 points.
💬 "We didn't do enough over the 90 minutes to get the win."@HarryMaguire93 on the late defeat to Fulham ⤵️#MUFC || #MUNFUL
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) February 24, 2024
dailyvoice@inl.co.za