Cunha's late deflection saves United

Rúben Amorim's side went into the game 12th in the table on five points from five, a record of one win, two draws and two defeats that leaves them stuck in the mid-table churn rather than anywhere near where a club of their size expects to be. A defeat at Craven Cottage would have made that number look a lot worse, and for long spells it looked like the more likely outcome.

Fulham pushed hard for the win that has eluded them all season, and by the time the game entered its final stretch they were the side that looked more likely to land the knockout blow. Manchester United, with Lisandro Martínez in defence, were holding on rather than dictating anything, chasing a game they had not controlled.

The equaliser

Then Cunha found the moment that mattered. His strike took a deflection on its way through and looped beyond the Fulham goalkeeper, enough to drag the scoreline back level and send United's bench up off the seats. According to Capital Sports, the goal was enough to snatch a 1-1 draw that the outlet described United as fortunate to take.

It is Cunha's kind of intervention. In the seasons Flagside holds on record, the Brazilian has scored 10 goals and added four assists for United across 25/26, numbers that mark him out as the player most likely to find something when the rest of the team has not. A deflected finish in the closing minutes at Craven Cottage fits a pattern of a forward who keeps United in games they are not winning on merit.

Fulham left short

For Fulham, the frustration is obvious. A first win of the campaign was there to be taken, and instead they were pegged back by a goal that owed as much to the flight off a United boot as it did to any craft in the finish. The point does little for a Manchester United side still searching for consistency under Amorim, but it beats the alternative, and Cunha made sure they did not have to find out what that alternative felt like.