Zirkzee learns from Van Nistelrooy in only piece of quality as Man Utd beat Fulham

Joshua Zirkzee did what Rasmus Hojlund could not do for Man Utd, who fashioned a repeat opening-day performance against Fulham after last year’s squeaky win over Wolves. We were only missing an Andre Onana assault.

There were huge questions being asked of Man Utd after they fluked a 1-0 win against Wolves on the first day of last season and the same will happen in the wake of their opening-day victory over Fulham on Friday night. It was far from convincing but we must not be too harsh on them, especially when Marco Silva’s side were also massively undercooked.

It had a real pre-season/post-lockdown feel to it, this one. There was a huge lack of quality from both sides, with not one player standing above the others, except for one piece of quality from substitute and debutant Zirkzee.

It was interesting to see Erik ten Hag put Noussair Mazraoui at right-back, with Diogo Dalot playing on the left as he has done many times for Man Utd. Having watched the Moroccan play left-back for Bayern Munich against Arsenal in the Champions League, it was a surprising move.

Maybe Ten Hag didn’t fancy putting him up against Adama Traore, the man who loves annihilating his opponent without making it worthwhile.

Another interesting decision was the one to leave Jadon Sancho at home, further hinting that his return to the squad was a play to get a decent fee for him. His and Rasmus Hojlund’s absence, along with Zirkzee sitting on the bench, meant it was Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount as the front two out of possession, with Amad Diallo and Marcus Rashford further wide.

With Man Utd adopting this shape, Fulham showed they are willing to play out from the back and imposed themselves early on, as you’d expect from a Silva side.

Many familiar United frailties were still in evidence. At least they were creating more chances than their visitors, with Bernd Leno making a couple of huge saves to deny Bruno Fernandes, who should have had a brace after 34 minutes.

A first half lacking quality came to an end after five shots from Casemiro, a Harry Maguire yellow card for simulation, a right-back wearing no.3, Adama Traore being Adama Traore, and an overall feeling that this wasn’t actually a Premier League match.

Things did not improve after the break. Mason Mount missed a decent chance on an awful evening for him. Alejandro Garnacho for some reason didn’t start but came on after an hour alongside match-winner Zirkzee. They both combined for the goal and the only piece of quality in 95 disappointing minutes at Old Trafford.

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When summer signing Zirkzee found the back of the net, we thought it was Scott McTominay who scored. We then thought it was a bit lucky. Replays informed us that it was anything but. The former Bologna striker in fact scored a brilliant goal, converting Garnacho’s assist first time with a deft touch into the bottom corner. It was actually pretty beautiful.

Scoring on your debut is handy; Hojlund didn’t score until Boxing Day last season. That goal will be a huge weight off Zirkzee and Ten Hag’s shoulders. He should kick on now as Hojlund did when he eventually found the back of the net late on in 2023.

Also, not having to rely on Bruno Fernandes and Scott McTominay’s inevitability off the bench for goals will be nice. Ruud van Nistelrooy’s arrival as assistant coach appears to be paying off already.

A game that completely lacked quality was capped off with a series of unfortunate events in injury time. Calvin Bassey’s airball put through Marcus Rashford and Garnacho but an early contender for miss of the season was born. The goal was wide open for Garnacho and he turned the ball wide. It really summed up the evening. As did Ten Hag turning to Matthijs de Ligt and Jonny Evans at the same time with 10 minutes left.

Fulham, meanwhile, should have made Man Utd’s lack of quality pay but it was their own inability to do anything positive that cost them dearly. They had a couple of counter-attacking situations in the second half that failed due to an awful Andreas Pereira pass, and then some poor decision making when the Cottagers had a numerical advantage over the Red Devils in their own half.

It was strangely similar to that unconvincing and downright lucky win against Gary O’Neil’s Wolves last August. At least Onana didn’t commit GBH this time. The fact no individual ‘got away with one’ hints at some kind of improvement, we guess. There was certainly a lot less fortune anyway, with the visitors not feeling nearly as hard done by as Wolves 12 months ago.

We still aren’t sure if Man Utd fans should be excited or scared with Ten Hag at the helm.

At least they can be excited about Zirkzee working under former Golden Boot winner Van Nistelrooy. He’s learning from one of the best and that late winner was one RvN would have been proud of. If only Hojlund had him this time last year.

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