Bruno Fernandes struck in stoppage time to ease pressure on his manager Erik ten Hag as Manchester United snatched a hard-fought 1-0 win at Fulham.
United thought they had claimed an early opening goal, but Scott McTominay’s finish at the back post from a free-kick in the eighth minute was ruled out for offside after a VAR review as Harry Maguire was deemed offside.
In a match of few chances, Andre Onana made an important second-half save from Harry Wilson before then parrying a fierce effort from Palhinha. The match looked to be heading towards stalemate when, on his 200th appearance for the club, Fernandes became the hero.
Fulham had three chances to clear the ball but instead it fell to the United captain, who showed great skills to turn defenders before driving a low shot past a despairing dive from Bernd Leno.
A third consecutive away win, and a seventh victory in a row by a single goal means United climb up to seventh on 18 points.
Fulham’s third consecutive defeat at home leaves them 14th on 12 points and they extended their winless run against United in all competitions to 18 matches, drawing three and losing 15.
Fulham report | Man Utd report
Match officials
Referee: John Brooks Assistants: Lee Betts, Matthew Wilkes. Fourth official: Rebecca Welch. VAR: Jarred Gillett. Assistant VAR: Sian Massey-Ellis.