On a cold, soggy Wednesday night in West London, Manchester United recovered and claimed a fierce 2-1 win against an impressive and resilient Fulham team.
The result leaves United at the top of the Premier League table and extends to 17 games without losing out, equaling the club’s all-time record. The best of all this happened thanks to a moment of the highest quality by Paul Pogba, who had a majestic and silent presence in the midfield.
This has always seemed to be a more difficult test for visitors than the table would suggest. With a dense January rain mist falling over the skeleton of the new bench, United was forced to dig deep into their own reserves against well-organized opponents.
“We needed the win and we got it the hard way,” said Pogba afterwards, although there was nothing but sweetness in his winning goal just after the hour mark, an impromptu conjured kick, a moment of space on the right that attracted a bark of frightened joy from the United bank.
Ole Gunnar Solskjær sent a team that looked ready to play, with almost a full squad to choose from, an injury-free run that was part of this team’s momentum in the middle of the season. Solskjær talked a lot about the need for extreme fitness in his first season. All of these regular United regulars look fiercely, combative.
Edinson Cavani and Mason Greenwood started the attack, and Pogba fell into the deep midfield, a progressive move in the absence of gristlier Scott McTominay. Fulham started with the cold wind on its back. They looked hungry from the start. Ademola Lookman had a shallow 25-yard kick and then surprised the empty stands with the opening goal after five minutes.
It took a single long pass from the impressive André-Frank Zambo Anguissa to open United. Lookman ended brilliantly, firing himself into the right side of the area before hitting a low shot in the far corner. Solskjær will ask about the time and space to pass. But his team pressed immediately, Pogba moving the ball right into the midfield.
First Bruno Fernandes kicked from outside the area against the post. Moments later, he crossed from the left, the ball was spread by Alphonse Areola and Cavani, lurking in the right place, finished perfectly. Cavani celebrated with a shout. This was his first post-ban goal.
Pogba ran the game in patches that first half. Before the start of the game, the United star midfielder had wandered by his teammates offering encouragement. Here he was unsteady at first, but showed so much calm and skill with the ball that his air of command seemed to spread through the red shirts.
Aaron Wan-Bissaka made good ground several times on the right, crossing for Anthony Martial to head just after half an hour. By this point, the game had been established under the predictable pressure of possession of the red ball. But Fulham’s midfield pivot proved to be an aggressive and difficult obstacle, with Lookman always busy on the break.
Fulham was also brilliant at the start of the second half, with Harrison Reed shooting hard over the bar after another good job by Lookman. United sometimes looked like a cautious team, even when they monopolized the ball, with Harry Maguire and Eric Bailly standing 20 meters behind the red line in front of them and rarely advancing to allow the midfield forward.
Loftus-Cheek showed some fine touches to the right, preparing Lookman for a shot that David de Gea comfortably defended. Pogba produced a beautiful, whipped deep cross. And at 64 minutes the game seemed to wind up in 1-1, with Fulham still showing true discipline in midfield.
At that point, Pogba enters, who pulled the ball from the sky by the right flank, wandered inside, saw the space in front of him and gave a beautiful curling shot on the second post. The ball made an emotional hiss as it left Pogba’s boot and a crash as the net burst. At the midpoint of this season, frankly, I could go to any of those teams at the top anyway. But that was a champion’s skill.
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Fulham pressed hard and had the chance to draw straight afterwards, with Loftus-Cheek seeing his low shot well defended by De Gea. Another good run opened a chance for him to shoot miles above the bar.
In death, United was grateful for Wan-Bissaka’s excellent defense challenge. This was a victory for persistence on a miserable night and for the deeper gears provided by an increasingly impressive star midfielder.