Fulham vs Manchester United LIVE: Premier League result and final score after late Bruno Fernandes goal

A clear message from the travelling supporters at Craven Cottage today: will the players respond? Kick-off is coming up!

The last time Fulham beat Manchester United

19 December 2009 - a simpler time, one may say.

That’s where you have to go back to for the last time Fulham beat today’s opponents, as goals from Bobby Zamora, Danny Murphy and Damien Duff secured a 3-0 win for Roy Hodgson’s side over the champions.

Rebecca Welch will become the first woman official to be involved in a refereeing capacity in a Premier League match when Manchester United visit Fulham on Saturday lunchtime.

Welch, 39, from Washington in Tyne and Wear, will be the fourth official at Craven Cottage.

Welch already holds the honour of being the first woman to be appointed to referee an English Football League match. She led the team of officials for the League Two match between Harrogate and Port Vale in April 2021.

Welch played football from childhood but only took up the whistle at the age of 27, after been challenged to do so by a friend.

“I played football and didn’t even think about refereeing until one of my really good friends, who is a referee, refereed us,” she said in an interview. “I spent the whole game telling her how to do her job! Her response was, ‘If you think it’s that easy, give it a go’. That’s how it happened and 10 years later here I am.”

How bad has Manchester United’s start been?

• Manchester United have lost five of their opening 10 Premier League matches - their most at the start of a league campaign since 1986-87.
• Defeat to Newcastle in the Carabao Cup then made it eighth defeats in 15 matches in all competitions, making it their worst start to a season since 1962-63.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe ‘agrees deal’ as part of 25 per cent investment - reports

Sir Jim Ratcliffe is to commit up to £245m to improve Manchester United’s infrastructure as part of his agreement to purchase a 25 per cent stake of the club, Sky News reported yesterday.

Ratcliffe and Ineos are in line to buy an initial 25 per cent stake in Manchester United, with the decision set to confirmed in the next two weeks, The Independent reported last month. The billionaire petrochemicals mogul wants this to be a “path to a majority”, according to involved figures, and will already be seeking influence on football decisions.

Ratcliffe’s decision to go for a 25 per cent minority stake, valued at around £1.3bn, is also set to see the Ineos owner invest a significant sum into fixing-up Old Trafford, which has been hit by problems in recent seasons, such as a leaky roof, and was overlooked as a host venue for Euro 2028.

The Fulham star set to show Man United the midfield move they should have made

And so the revelations, such as they are, continue to pour forth from Old Trafford. A few days on from a suggestion he couldn’t play the same way at Manchester United as he did at Ajax because he now has different players, Erik ten Hag walked that back somewhat to insist he’s looking for something of both clubs.

“The explanation from my point of view was totally wrong that I can’t play like Ajax because I have different players,” he said ahead of this weekend’s game at Fulham. “I came here with my philosophy based on possession but also [I want] to combine it with the DNA of Manchester United and combine it with the competences and the characters of the players. We have seen what it was. We played very good football last season.”

Perhaps they did, at times, but they certainly haven’t this term. The attacking play is ponderous, lacking confidence, inconsistent. United have netted five goals in their last five Premier League games. They average 1.1 per match this term, the lowest in the current top 12.

By Karl Matchett

Erik ten Hag did not try to defend the indefensible but, after his team showed precious little fight, he pronounced himself a fighter. His programme notes had contained the assertion that it was “only a matter of time before we show our true selves.”

Instead, Manchester United had been truly awful, a wretched rabble who were overpowered by Newcastle United’s depleted side. If the England cricket team were mounting the most abject defence of a title at the World Cup, United’s attempt to retain the Carabao Cup felt their own brand of dreadful.

Analysis by Senior Football Correspondent Richard Jolly

Erik ten Hag says Rashford is “not fit” and confirms he would have started if it wasn’t for picking up a knock in training.

Ten Hag says the “case is closed” after he said it was “unacceptable” that the forward went out for a birthday party after last weekend’s derby defeat.

Fulham XI: Leno, Castagne, Bassey, Ream, Robinson, Wilson, Joao Palhinha, Iwobi, Pereira, Willian, Muniz

Marcus Rashford is NOT in the Manchester United squad to face Fulham.

The forward is missing as he failed a fitness test after picking up a knock in training yesterday, according to United.

Rashford has travelled to the Craven Cottage with the United team, however.

Man Utd XI: Onana, Wan-Bissaka, Evans, Maguire, Dalot, McTominay, Eriksen, Fernandes, Antony, Hojlund, Garnacho