After securing a place in the Champions League in midweek, Manchester United can also play a desperate game in the final round.
Not only them, but so is Fulham. After completing relegation early, they are still far from the European zone, and it is clearer that no matter what kind of result Fulham has achieved in this game, they cannot move forward or backward, and the tenth place is the final ranking.
If you look at it from this perspective, Ten Hach may prefer to end the league with a win to secure third place, after all, third is always better than fourth, and third can earn more than fourth.
Before getting a blank check from your boss, it's better not to get by with the money.
Perhaps it was on this basis that Ten Hach sent Harry Maguire, not only to put the captain in the last home league game, but also to limit the opponent Mitrovic.
After all, Mitrovic's dominance in the air ball is still obvious:
With a basic targeted arrangement and the advantage of playing at home, Manchester United was slow to warm up in the opening period, but also played an offensive threat in various ways:
And with this free-kick played, Rashford also got to work:
However, in the 19th minute, Fulham used a set-piece to open the score:
And since then, if it weren't for De Gea's prestige in the penalty defense, Manchester United would have been two goals behind:
No matter how desperate and wantless, if the last home league ends like this, it will not be good after all, not to mention that Manchester United's season does not end with this game, and the FA Cup final after that still needs the team to play with death.
So after the penalty start, Manchester United increased its intensity and played an attacking threat in a short period of time:
It can be seen from these attacks that in the face of Manchester United's sudden increase in intensity, Fulham's side is still quite uncomfortable, and the areas in front of the back and the central defender have become the place where Manchester United players play.
What saved them was United's rather average ability to take advantage of opportunities.
However, this kind of thing can save them for a while, but not a lifetime, so in the 39th minute of the game, Bruno received the ball at Lukic's side, turned around, and provided a boost for Fred in the back, stumbling into the left rib to give Sancho a chance in front of goal:
As soon as this goal was scored, Manchester United's form gradually recovered, and it also continued into the second half, such as Marcus's shot this time, which was also far more intense than the opponent's performance:
In the 55th minute, Fred sent a wonderful pass to Bruno who plugged in, and Manchester United reversed the score:
After the score was reversed, the game began to return to normal.
Fulham themselves have little motivation, especially with Mitrovic being replaced and Willian's aging base plate, the possibility of a tie is slowly declining.
What's more, before and after the adjustment, Manchester United can threaten the gate more closely than Fulham:
So, this game is over.
From a combat point of view, the low intensity of this game can be seen with the naked eye. While Manchester United are preparing for the FA Cup final, players are somewhat afraid of injury, so most of the time, there are not many cases where players really make a difference.
There could have been a penalty for playing leisurely, but Fulham's side were completely unwanted, and scoring a goal away from home made Manchester United tightened, which is already very good, and it is also a waste of money for Old Trafford fans.
Clearly, both sides are starting to focus more on the future.
On the Manchester United side, regardless of the outcome of the FA Cup final, the result of Champions League qualification + cup winning has actually exceeded most people's expectations for Manchester United at the beginning of the season.
Especially after experiencing two consecutive defeats in the opening game and falling to the deputy squad leader of the league.
It was a good debut, but it was clearly far from what Tenhach thought was perfection, so the team needed more improvement on and off the pitch, just like Garnercho who came out this season.
In this match, Ghana Jo started his first game after injury.
Against Fulham right-back Teter, he barely had the advantage on the wing:
This is normal, Ghanajo's physical quality is not top-notch, speed and confrontation are good, but none of them are particularly provocative, and this starter is against a full-back full of blood, so next season, Ghanajo needs to continue to improve.
The direction of progress is the middle way.
In his career, he is bound to encounter full-backs that he can't eat, especially at the higher levels of the Champions League. If you want to be a good player who can output threats at all times, you have to be a general player who is proficient in everything.
In this game, Garnacho consciously went to the ribs and the middle after being deflated on the wing:
It can be seen that the consciousness is correct, but the experience is obviously insufficient, and the few drops are not prepared enough, and still play in the middle with the thinking of the wing, such as insufficient observation and lack of fineness in stopping the ball, which is not right.
However, this time defense, when the opponent's winger wandered inward and he found that the opponent had a chance to play with it, his body responded quickly and came to the route in time to intercept the pass, which is a very good defensive awareness:
When the wide player is defending, he does not necessarily get the wing dead and dead defense, and sometimes he can also give the outside responsibility to the full-back, but when the back enters the ribs to fill in the blanks, the wide player has to come to the outside of the defense to stand in the back position, this awareness is to have.
Garnacho has a little bit of that, which is good, but it still needs to be further strengthened in the future, and after the defensive awareness in this area has improved, he can also understand what kind of defensive intensity he needs to face when he comes to the ribs and receives the ball in the middle when attacking, and how well he has to observe in advance?
So the road is long and the road is long, and Garnacho has to grind slowly, and the others and Manchester United are the same.
Of course, Manchester United still have a decisive battle to fight before the future comes.
Compared to the last time against Manchester City, the latter has changed a lot, from full-back inside to central defender, essentially the same, but as opponents, Manchester United's focus area also has to respond to changes.
If Manchester United need to focus on exposed wings to deal with full-backs, now Manchester United first need to catch the ball in the center and ribs in front of and behind the central defenders. The quality of the ball received in these places will determine how much of a counter-attack United can play in an environment of doomed low possession.
The challenge lies ahead and the players still have work to make.