Manchester United rescued a 1-1 draw against Fulham thanks to Matheus Cunha’s late equaliser on Sunday, but the pressure is mounting on boss Michael Carrick after their latest lacklustre display.
Carrick’s side were in dire need of a victory at Craven Cottage but instead left grateful for a point after a contentious encounter that left Fulham manager Alvaro Arbeloa claiming post-match that the referees would not let United lose.
The Premier League giants fell behind in the second half to a farcical own goal from Lisandro Martinez, who diverted the ball into his own net after Senne Lammens had saved Calvin Bassey’s shot.
Martinez tried to clear the ball but his bizarrely mistimed swipe directed the ball back into his own net via a deflection off the despairing Lammens.
Leno kept out Bryan Mbeumo’s curler and plunged to his left to save Cunha’s low drive as United tried desperately to salvage a point.
United’s late flurry brought an equaliser in the 89th minute.
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Cunha tried his luck from distance and his shot took a wicked deflection off David Affengruber.
But although the goal spared United from a third successive defeat, there was little reason for celebration for Carrick and his beleaguered team.
United have just one win in five Premier League matches and already trail leaders Manchester City by 10 points.
They have lost three of their first seven games in all competitions this season and head into the international break with Carrick under intense scrutiny.
He has insisted that he does not care about his future at Old Trafford.
But after successive gut-punch defeats against Manchester City and Brighton, this was another setback to his reeling regime.
The team’s start was lambasted by former great Gary Neville, who said their start to the second half was “the worst 15 minutes I have ever seen Manchester United play”.
“I’ve never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that,” Neville said on Sky Sports.
“Michael has just said there was nothing wrong with the team’s energy – Michael has got to stop defending them.
“I called them mannequins. I’ve never seen a United team walk around as much as that. No alertness, no aliveness. No ‘on your toes’. You should always be on your toes.
“Very rarely do I say a team doesn’t work hard or is lacking in effort. That’s the ultimate criticism you can give a group of players.
“I’m always very careful to say that, but in those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd … were a genuine disgrace. Nowhere near good enough without the ball.”
Barely escaping with a draw against second-from-bottom Fulham was another indignity in a season already full of forgettable moments for United.
Expected to at least match last season’s third place finish, United have gone backwards since Carrick was appointed as manager on a permanent basis following his successful interim spell.
“We came to get the win of course, the way it panned out and the way we finished is the positive we take from it,” Carrick said post-match.
“We don’t think things are perfect by any means. We need to win football matches.”
United only started to press hard after Martinez’s own goal, but remarkably Carrick was adamant that he had no complaints about their hunger.
Asked if United were passive, he said: “I didn’t think we were. Did you think we were? Football is a difficult game.
“We controlled a lot of the first half. It’s the Premier League and you will have spells where you don’t have it all your own way.
“To expect total dominance for the whole game, I don’t think anyone gets that in this league.”
A point is enough to edge Fulham off the foot of the table as Tottenham drop to the bottom.
United return to action with a home game against Spurs on October 10, with Carrick and rival boss Roberto De Zerbi both desperate for a win that would turn the tide.
BLACK CAT’S HAT-TRICK GIVES CITY SCARE IN 8-GOAL THRILLER
Manchester City went top of the Premier League despite Brian Brobbey’s hat-trick in a 5-3 thriller on Sunday, as the giants took advantage of Arsenal’s shock 3-0 defeat at Brighton on Saturday.
Enzo Fernandez opened the scoring with his first goal since equalling the Premier League transfer record with a £125 million ($167 million) move from Chelsea.
The Argentine midfielder’s free-kick caught out Robin Roefs at his near post.
Sunderland won their first European match for 53 years against AZ Alkmaar in midweek but showed little sign of tiredness as City could not shake off the Black Cats.
Brobbey slotted home Enzo Le Fee’s pass for the first of his treble. Quick feet and a slick finish from Rayan Cherki restored City’s advantage, but Brobbey again replied within four minutes at the end of a fine Sunderland move.
Antoine Semenyo smashed City back in front before half-time and thought he had settled the game with another accurate left-footed finish just before the hour mark.
Brobbey completed his hat-trick after Nilson Angulo beat Gianluigi Donnarumma to a ball over the top.
A couple of nervy moments from the Italian goalkeeper nearly led to a Sunderland equaliser as Ruben Dias was forced to clear off his own line.
However, Erling Haaland finally got involved in the goalfest to seal the three points and ensured he has scored against every side he has faced in the Premier League.
Victory extends Enzo Maresca’s perfect start to the daunting task of succeeding Pep Guardiola at City boss.
“To be honest, I prefer to win 1-0 than 5-3 but I expected a very difficult game,” Maresca said post-match.
ISAK WINNER KEEPS REDS ON TRACK
Liverpool won 1-0 on Andoni Iraola’s return to Bournemouth thanks to Alexander Isak’s winner.
Iraola was given a warm reception after leading the Cherries into Europe for the first time in the club’s history.
That success led to the Basque being snapped up by Liverpool but he has endured an up and down start at Anfield and needed a victory to ease tensions before the international break.
Liverpool’s performance was again far from convincing but they got the only goal when Cody Gakpo’s cross sat up for Isak to fire in his fourth of the season.
“To win here is very difficult, I know it very well,” Iraola said.
“Overall we’ve improved, definitely since the first games.”
Victory moves Liverpool up to sixth and within a point of third-placed Brighton. Leeds missed the chance to go third themselves after being held 0-0 at home by Crystal Palace.
Andoni Iraola urged Alexander Isak to raise his level after the Liverpool striker sealed his side’s 1-0 win against Bournemouth on Sunday.
Isak settled a hard-fought clash with his fourth Premier League goal of the season in the second half at the Vitality Stadium.
Plagued by injuries and a significant loss of form, Isak netted just three times in the top-flight in the 2025-26 campaign following his acrimonious £125 million ($167 million) move from Newcastle.
The Sweden star has already scored more goals in Liverpool’s first five league matches this season than he did across the whole of last term.
But demanding Reds boss Iraola still wants more from Isak as he looks to turn Liverpool’s spells of dominance into more regular goal sprees.
“He took the chance after a quiet afternoon – and that’s what a striker’s job is like,” Iraola said.
“He had a couple of situations, a cross he didn’t hit properly, one when his control wasn’t right and then the goal.
“But he has to help us to be closer to the box, to play in the opposition half and to have meaningful possession.
“Then, if the team is playing there, he will receive the rewards in terms of goals. We need that level so that we can play better.”
Iraola left Bournemouth for Anfield after three seasons with the Cherries, capped off by leading the club to a maiden European berth last season.
Liverpool had enjoyed two more days of rest than the hosts, who beat Real Sociedad in San Sebastian on Thursday to open their Europa League campaign with a victory.
But they struggled to impose themselves for long periods of Iraola’s homecoming before Isak made the breakthrough in the 57th minute.
Cody Gakpo’s cross was intended for Florian Wirtz, who could not connect under pressure, but Bournemouth failed to deal with the cross and Isak pounced to sweep home.
“I was disappointed with the first 20, 25 minutes. I think we didn’t start the game with the intensity it requires,” Iraola said.
“To win here is very difficult, I know it very well. Normally Bournemouth starts really strong, and it took us this 20, 25 minutes until we matched a little bit this level.
“From there I think at the end of the first half and the second half we played better. Better situations with the ball, and we could win the game.”