‘That was avoidable’: Ten Hag says one United player was ‘out of position’ for Fulham’s injury-time winner

Manchester United fell to a 2-1 defeat at the hands of Fulham on Saturday afternoon, ending their unbeaten start to 2024.

The Reds’ showing was nothing short of lacklustre and uninspired as they were outplayed by the travelling Cottagers, who hadn’t won away from home since the opening weekend of the Premier League campaign.

They were able to get one over on Erik ten Hag and his men though, initially through Calvin Bassey after he registered his first-ever Fulham goal when breaking the deadlock in the 65th minute.

United responded 24 minutes later through Harry Maguire, with the former captain able to capitalise on Bernd Leno’s spillage to tap in the ball and level the scoring.

His equaliser proved to be in vain by the full-time whistle, however, as Alex Iwobi re-gave his side the lead in the seventh minute of injury time to claim all three points on the road.

Ten Hag’s digruntled reaction

Reacting to the dismal defeat post-match, Erik ten Hag was left irate at how the affair unravelled and how the loss could’ve been prevented.

“They come out from a throw-in near the corner and it shouldn’t happen,” the manager told MUTV. “We have them under pressure but one player is in the wrong position. So, as a team, we should manage that so everyone is in the right position.

“We have experience on the pitch. We let them escape and that was avoidable. It can’t happen when an opponent has a throw-in.”