To paraphrase a former Manchester United manager, Michael Carrick knew that the storm would come. Everything went a little too perfectly for him in the second half of last season. There would be ill winds at some point.
Which was what Carrick could feel before this visit to Fulham. What were his emotions after this? Relief was surely the main thing.
Because after the derby defeat by Manchester City last Sunday and the midweek Carabao Cup exit against Brighton – both at Old Trafford – Carrick was starring at an unwanted hat-trick. All this on the back of other wobbles since the opening weekend when United lost at Hull. It was a darkly comic own goal by Lisandro Martínez that raised Fulham’s hopes of a first Premier League win under Alvaro Arbeloa.
United have almost always won in this corner of south-west London in recent seasons. A crash against the team that started at the foot of the table was unthinkable. Carrick and his team averted disaster when they caught a huge break with time almost up.
There was little on for Matheus Cunha on the edge of the area, to the left of centre, and so he took on the shot for the near corner. The Fulham goalkeeper, Bernd Leno, looked to have it covered. Cue an almighty deflection off David Affengruber to send the ball spinning into the opposite corner.
It was true that Fulham invited pressure after Martinez’s horror moment, sinking back. They came to lack an out-ball. But it did not look as though United could find the required moment of penetration.
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