Matheus Cunha’s (£7.9m) late strike rescued a point for Manchester United at Fulham on Sunday.
Here are our Scout Notes from Craven Cottage.
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CARRICK ON SESKO, RASHFORD + AMAD
Benjamin Sesko (£7.0m) missed out for Manchester United due to a shin injury.
Michael Carrick said…
“We’re not sure with Ben yet, he felt some pain after the [Brighton] game and we are assessing him at the moment. He definitely wasn’t ready for today. I haven’t got any more news to give you, just that he felt pain on his shin.” – Michael Carrick on Benjamin Sesko
Marcus Rashford (£7.0m) picked up an “issue”, too.
Prior to his withdrawal, the winger got into some good positions and racked up a match-high six shots and four chances created, but his execution was off.
“Marcus was a threat. He could have had a couple of goals for us today. He’s another one who is getting himself in good positions, it’s just not quite falling for him. It will. We know Marcus. We know how to get the best out of him and will continue to do that.” – Michael Carrick on Marcus Rashford.
On the plus side, Amad Diallo (£5.7m) should be back after the international break, while Luke Shaw (£4.3m) returned from injury to start at Fulham.
Meanwhile, new arrival Carlos Baleba (£4.9m) was on the bench.
“It was good to have Carlos [Baleba] today [on the bench]. Amad, hopefully by the time we get back, he will have trained with the group. That’s a positive. Matta [de Ligt] is working towards his fitness as well.” – Michael Carrick
ANOTHER BRUNO BLANK
Bruno Fernandes (£12.0m) struck the woodwork from a Cunha cut-back in the first half, but once again failed to hit last season’s level.
The Portuguese playmaker has now blanked in four of his five matches this season.
Outside of the Ipswich Town encounter in Gameweek 2, when he admittedly racked up a monster haul, he’s delivered only eight points.
Still, Bruno remains second for shots (19) and joint-third for chances created (13). He also faces winless Tottenham Hotspur next.
As for United, it was pedestrian at times on Sunday, with only two of their 29 goal attempts deemed big chances by Opta.
Cunha, again in the number nine role, did at least net a late equaliser when his shot found the net from a wicked deflection.
Before that, Bryan Mbeumo (£7.9m) had a superb curling effort saved by Bernd Leno (£4.5m).
On the defensive contributions (DefCon) front, Kobbie Mainoo (£5.5m) banked DefCon points for the fourth successive match…
KING THREAT
Fulham might be second-bottom of the table as we enter the international break, but there were plenty of positives to take from Sunday’s performance.
The Cottagers took the lead just after the hour mark thanks to Lisandro Martinez’s (£5.0m) blunder.
In certain periods, they piled on the pressure.
Josh King (£5.5m) and Gonzalo Garcia (£6.0m) both fired off three shots, with one big chance apiece. Always looking to get on the ball and threaten, King was particularly impressive.
Also, playing off the left, Alex Iwobi (£5.4m) created a match-high five chances, combining nicely with his full-back down that side of the pitch, Antonee Robinson (£4.5m).
Above: Fulham players sorted by shots in Gameweek 5
FULHAM INTEREST SET TO INCREASE
Having gained points against Liverpool and now Man Utd in the past week, Fulham’s upcoming run really whets the appetite.
The Cottagers face all three promoted clubs in Gameweeks 6-8…
We’ll take a deep dive into Fulham’s best players for this run over the break.
“I think you could see the more we play, the more control we have. In the first couple of games we were too emotional. You can’t change things in one or two months, it takes time. We are much more balanced now. A lot of positive things to take, and still a lot of improvement. The team is alive, it is fighting, it is running. You can see how we play and it is very positive. With our new manager and philosophy, I think we will win games. Then the confidence will come.” – Bernd Leno
