da bet vitoria： It only took two injuries for Erik ten Hag's side to slip back to their old ways, and it'll take a miracle for them to return to the Champions League

da fazobetai： Sir Jim Ratcliffe warned last week that it would take at least three years for Manchester United to win another Premier League title. On the evidence of their abysmal home defeat by Fulham, it will take 33. At least.

Marco Silva's side had not won away from Craven Cottage since beating Everton on the opening day of the season, and had not tasted victory at Old Trafford for 21 years. But they soon made themselves at home at the Theatre of Dreams on Saturday, and could have been up by three goals by half-time.

United, meanwhile, were utterly toothless in attack and only started having a go just before the interval. Erik ten Hag's side were eventually sunk by a 97th-minute winner from Alex Iwobi, but the truth is the goal had been a long time coming and it was no more than the Cottagers had deserved.

There was a deep sense of deja-vu for the Red Devils as Fulham became the latest in a long line of teams who United would usually expect to beat to end up winning at Old Trafford, following unexpected away victories for Brighton, Crystal Palace, Galatasaray and Bournemouth during this campaign.

And the worrying thing is that United had looked like a different animal in 2024, winning six out of seven games in all competitions since the turn of the year and lifting their hopes of a top-four finish. All it has taken to derail that progress is a couple of injuries, and now Ten Hag's side look like that same dis-jointed and dysfunctional team that muddled their way through the first half of the campaign.

Getty ImagesTwo injuries make the difference

United suffered their first setback at the start of the week with the announcement Luke Shaw would be out for a number of months with a hamstring injury. More bad news followed on Friday, as it was revealed Rasmus Hojlund would be out for around three weeks.

Those twin blows completed a miserable month for injuries which had begun with Lisandro Martinez hurting his knee against West Ham, ruling the Argentine defender out for another two months after he had just returned from a four-month lay-off following foot surgery.

AdvertisementGettyLost without Hojlund

The day before facing Fulham, Ten Hag tried to play down the significance of the injury to Hojlund, who he had insisted was not 'the main man'.

"In our last games, the frontline is an absolute threat, they score so is it Rasmus Højlund only? No, it’s [Alejandro] Garnacho, also [Marcus] Rashford, Scott McTominay. Bruno [Fernandes] can score," the Dutchman said. "What gives me the confidence is that in autumn the frontline wasn’t scoring, they were not even a threat. At this moment they are in very good form and a threat continually."

But soon after kick-off against Fulham, it became clear that Hojlund, who had scored in his last six Premier League outings, had been the real difference between United's form before and after the New Year. The £72 million ($91m) striker had answered his critics by spectacularly ending his goal drought, but his hold-up play was just as crucial to United's improved form. And without the Danish hitman as a focal point, they were woeful in attack.

GettyRashford not up for it

United failed to trouble their opponents for most of the first half and much of the second period too, until their frantic end to the match, in which Harry Maguire equalised and McTominay and Fernandes spurned chances to get a winner, before Iwobi took his third opportunity of the match and condemned United to a first defeat since the end of December.

Just as at the start of the campaign, when Hojlund had an injured back and Anthony Martial was not fit, Rashford was back playing at centre-forward, a position he has admitted he does not relish taking up. It did not look as if his attitude towards leading the line has changed, either. He was unwilling to press, meaning it fell to full debutant Omari Forson to try and chase down Fulham's defence and goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

GettyForson not ready yet

Forson, a surprise inclusion in the starting line-up over Antony, did not look ready for this level and was put out of his misery after 53 minutes. The fact that the 19-year-old was given the nod despite having just four minutes of first-team football under his belt was a damning indictment of how little faith Ten Hag has in Antony right now.

The manager encouraged the club to pay £85m ($107m) for the Brazilian winger in 2022, but the day before this game, he admitted his former Ajax charge was not "showing his potential". Bizarrely, he decided to bring him on in the 98th minute.

Antony has one goal and no assists this season and continues to look like one of the worst signings in Premier League history. But Ten Hag might have to start calling on him again, such is the paucity of options he has up front.