Argentine teenager Alejandro Garnacho on Sunday came off the bench to score in stoppage-time as Manchester United won 2-1 away to Fulham.
It seemed the Cottagers had done enough to earn a point in the final English Premier League match before the World Cup break, but Garnacho’s expert one-two with Christian Eriksen, in the last of three minutes of stoppage-time, finished with the 18-year-old racing into the penalty area before producing a cool finish across Bernd Leno.
“He has a lot of talent and his work rate together with the talent makes a big difference with us from the bench,” United captain Bruno Fernandes told the BBC when asked about Garnacho. “We are really happy for him and know he can give us goals, assists and prove the joy of football.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Eriksen had put the visitors in front in the 14th minute at Craven Cottage with his first goal for United as he finished off a counterattack.
Former Manchester United striker Daniel James equalized for Fulham just after the hour, having only come on as a substitute for Harry Wilson minutes earlier.
“About time,” Eriksen said of his goal. “I owed a few so I’m happy to be on the scoresheet in the last game before the World Cup.”
Photo: AFP
United remained fifth, but the win meant they moved to within three points of fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur as Fulham stayed ninth.
Erik ten Hag’s side arrived in London without several senior players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Antony, Jadon Sancho and Raphael Varane.
Fulham were missing injured star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, but still made a bright start at Craven Cottage, with United goalkeeper David de Gea’s early save denying Carlos Vinicius, but it was United who broke the deadlock when Anthony Martial played in Fernandes, whose ball across the penalty area left the unmarked Eriksen with a simple tap-in.
Photo: Reuters
Fulham enjoyed plenty of possession and pressure, but their failure to turn any of it into a goal was almost punished when Martial headed just over the bar from Luke Shaw’s cross.
Eriksen also had a chance to make it 2-0 before halftime, but fired wide.
Early in the second half, Fulham goalkeeper Leno denied Anthony Elanga in a one-on-one, before Antonee Robinson and Tim Ream combined to prevent Marcus Rashford scoring from the follow-up.
Having passed up those opportunities, United were pegged back in the 61st minute.
Willian’s quick run down the left was well supported by the overlapping Tom Cairney, with his pass finding James as the substitute slotted home from the center of the penalty area.
An emboldened Fulham pushed for the winner, with Joao Palhinha’s improvised overhead-kick forcing De Gea into a punched save, but it was Garnacho, showing a composure belying his years, who had the final say.
“No words can explain what me and my teammates feel in this moment,” Palhinha said. “We are really disappointed with the result because I think we deserved to win this game. We will keep fighting and give our best for the rest of the season. Football is like this, sometimes the best team doesn’t win.”
Earlier, Danny Ings scored twice as Aston Villa ended their wait for an away win in the league with a 2-1 victory at Brighton & Hove Albion.
Alexis Mac Allister fired Brighton ahead inside the first minute, but Villa hit back, Ings equalizing with a first-half penalty before his deflected strike early in the second half did for the Seagulls, who were denied a late penalty by the video assistant referee.
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