United Escape with a Point but Face Serious Concerns

United escape with a point. They leave with a problem.

At Craven Cottage, a late, looping deflection from Matheus Cunha spared United from a third straight league defeat, sealing a 1-1 draw that felt more like a stay of execution than a step forward. It wiped out Lisandro Martinez’s early own goal, but it did nothing to erase the image that will linger longest from west London: a United side strolling while Fulham played.

The scoreboard said parity. The performance screamed something else.

Cunha’s rescue act masks a flat display

Fulham had seized control early, Martinez diverting into his own net to deepen the sense of unease around Michael Carrick’s team. United chased the game, but rarely with conviction. Passes went sideways, presses arrived a second late, and Craven Cottage sensed the fragility in front of them.

Only in the closing stages did United summon the pressure befitting their situation. The ball broke to Cunha, his effort taking a decisive touch on its way past the Fulham goalkeeper. The away end exploded in relief, not celebration.

It was a vital point in the table. It was not a performance to build a season on.

Neville tears into United’s work rate

On Sky Sports co-commentary, Gary Neville watched it unfold and could barely contain his disbelief. This was not frustration at a missed chance or a tactical tweak gone wrong. This was anger at something far more basic.

"I've never seen a Man Utd team walk out of possession as much as that," he said, his voice cutting through the post-match analysis. The word he kept returning to was damning: disgrace.

Neville’s fury was aimed less at the late equaliser and more at the 60 minutes that came before it. The periods where Fulham simply passed around United, unhurried, unbothered, unpressed.

"I called them mannequins," he added. "I've never seen a United team walk around as much as that. No alertness, no aliveness. No 'on your toes'. You should always be on your toes."

For a former captain who built his career on intensity and detail, watching a United side drift through phases without the ball was too much. He didn’t just question their quality. He questioned their effort.

Carrick under the spotlight

Neville did not stop with the players. He turned his attention, pointedly, towards Michael Carrick’s public stance.

"Michael has got to stop defending them," he insisted. "I get why he's defending them; he's loyal, he wants his players to work for him, and obviously there's a long way to go in the season."

Carrick, speaking after the game, had rejected the idea that his team lacked energy. Neville could not accept that assessment. To him, the pictures on the pitch told a different story: United walking, Fulham dictating.

"Michael is of course saying something different to us than he is saying privately," Neville said. "That would've really worried me. People will ask questions about him, but he knew that when he took the job."

There was no suggestion of immediate crisis around the manager. Neville made that clear.

"There's no panic in that sense - no one is putting pressure on Carrick," he said. The warning came with the next line.

"If those types of performances continue, he will find himself in a lot of trouble. They've got to work harder than that for him."

A pattern that’s becoming hard to ignore

This was not a one-off. The draw at Fulham followed back-to-back defeats against Manchester City in the league and a Carabao Cup collapse to Brighton. The theme is starting to look familiar: United second best without the ball, second best in desire.

Neville highlighted the opening stages of the second half as the nadir. Those first 15 minutes, he said, summed up a wider malaise.

"I'm always very careful to say that, but in those first 15 minutes of that second half, Man Utd and generally for the first 60 minutes, were a genuine disgrace. Nowhere near good enough without the ball."

For a club that once defined itself by relentless work, that is the sharpest cut of all. The late deflection from Cunha changed the result. It did not change the question now hanging over this United side.

How long can a team with this badge on its chest get away with walking?