Harry Maguire has urged Manchester United to make better use of their chances after they could only manage a 1-1 draw against Fulham, leaving them with only five points from their opening five Premier League games.
United were on the verge of defeat at Craven Cottage before a late equaliser from Matheus Cunha, whose shot took a deflection and wrong-footed Bernd Leno in the 89th minute. The result ended a run of two losses for United, but meant they are winless in three league games.
Maguire said United had created enough chances in the first half to take control of the game. Bruno Fernandes struck the post, while Leno also saved efforts from Cunha, Lisandro Martinez and Bryan Mbeumo.
“We have got to take our chances and take our moments,” Maguire told club media. “When you go away in the Premier League it is tough and you have seen that in the results this year.
“When we had those moments in that first half, they are big moments in the Premier League and you have really got to take them.”
Fulham took the lead early in the second half through an own goal credited to Martinez. The incident followed a mistake from United goalkeeper Senne Lammens, who failed to deal with Calvin Bassey’s shot before the ball was turned towards his own goal.
United recovered and finished strongly, but could not find a winner before Cunha’s late effort deflected off David Affengruber and past Leno.
Maguire felt United’s response after conceding was a positive compared with last weekend’s defeat by Manchester City.
“Our reaction was so much better and positive than it was last week [against Manchester City] and to concede that goal with the week we have had, the boys showed great spirit and great reaction,” he said.
“We pushed them right back and the pressure was relentless. We needed a ball to fall or drop for us.
“It was just unfortunate that the goal did not come earlier as we had the momentum to go and win the match.”
The five-point return is United’s joint-lowest after five Premier League games, matching their start in 2014-15 under Louis van Gaal. That side eventually finished fourth, but Michael Carrick’s team will spend the international break in the bottom half of the table.
Maguire said United must block out the criticism and focus on improving.
“You have got to ignore the noise and really believe and think about what we have done this year, along with what we need to work on and improve on, but we are not far away.”
