Key events
Half-time postbag. “Several years ago, the Wolves version of Adama Traore would regularly charge down the right and whip in dangerous crosses to Raul Jimenez’s pre-injury head for glorious goals and chances. I miss those days. I hope Marco Silva throws Jimenez on in the second half, just for old times’ sake” – Peter Oh
“Traore has fewer goals in his entire career (31) than Haaland had LAST YEAR (38). The man has speed and strength, but no goals in his boots” – Joe Pearson
“Surely it was just a clumsy Harry fall rather than a dive?” – Matthew Stephens
“I knew there was something wrong about the Olympics commentaries. It was all far too enthusiastic, life-affirming and joyful. Thank heavens that Lee Dixon is on hand again in the commentary box to remind us that skill is a chimera, success is illusory and disappointment is the fate that awaits us all” – Charles Antaki
HALF TIME: Manchester United 0-0 Fulham
Fulham had the better of it for the first 20 minutes; United improved thereafter and carved out some big chances for Bruno Fernandes and Casemiro. Both teams will be happy with some of that, and frustrated with other bits, nothing quite clicking yet. First game of the season, huh.
45 min: There will be one added minute.
44 min: United keep hold of the ball in their own half. No rush at the end of a half into which they’ve grown in confidence.
42 min: Casemiro has another whack, slicing a ball dropping invitingly on the edge of the Fulham D high into the crowd. “Given that a big criticism of Utd last season was their work rate, do you think their new home shirt is designed to look like they’re sweating?” wonders Paul McNally mischievously.
41 min: Another United free kick on the left leads to another United corner on the right. Diallo plays this one short, but when Mount eventually delivers, Bassey clears. The ball’s returned into the Fulham mixer, which leads to Maguire diving over Smith Rowe’s long-withdrawn leg in the hope of winning a penalty. Into the book he goes.
39 min: A lot of patient passing from the home side. Fulham are struggling to get a touch, never mind keep hold of the ball.
37 min: Mainoo dribbles hard down the right and wins a corner off Robinson. Diallo sends it in. Casemiro – who else? – wins a header at the far post, but heads down and wide left from close range. Another big chance for United goes by.
35 min: United string some slinky passes together, Mainoo, Mount and Casemiro combining down the middle to release Fernandes into the box. He whips goalwards instantly, but Leno is off his line quickly to close down and block. Great play all round. United are beginning to ask some serious questions now, with Fulham on the back foot.
34 min: A poor pass infield from Mazraoui on the right. But it pinballs to Fernandes anyway. He’s got space and time to shoot, 20 yards out, but is uncharacteristically indecisive. Blocked and cleared.
32 min: … but that aside, United are beginning to assert themselves after that dodgy period of ten minutes or so when Fulham were very much on top. Diallo crosses from the left but Fernandes can’t leap high enough to meet it. Goal kick.
31 min: Iwobi has the chance to release Muniz down the left but overhits the pass, allowing Onana to come out and deal with the situation.
29 min: Leno shanks a clearance straight to Casemiro, who immediately releases Fernandes down the inside-right channel. Fernandes is one on one with the keeper, and tries to pass the ball across the keeper and into the bottom left. Leno makes up for his mistake by blocking. Big chance.
27 min: Casemiro in the pocket, 25 yards from goal. He puts his foot through the ball and hoicks it miles over the bar. Moments earlier, he’d crossed deep from the right only for Rashford to mistime his leap at the far post. Casemiro plenty involved.
25 min: Bassey is booked for an unnecessarily robust slide tackle on Mount.
24 min: Marco Silva engages the fourth official in a heated debate over a garden-variety foul, Diallo knocked over on the right flank. The officials are not for turning. Fernandes swings the free kick into the mixer. Casemiro wins another header, and sends it over the crossbar again. The flag goes up for offside anyway. Silva ends the debate.
22 min: Tete is given all sorts of time to line up a cross from the right flank. Maguire heads the eventual delivery clear, with Muniz lurking, but penny for the press-related thoughts of Gary Neville.
20 min: Maguire creams a long pass down the inside-left channel for Fernandes, who has nobody up with him in attack. All he can do is shoot from a tight angle. The side netting ripples. Fernandes gives his team-mates the what-for. The captain not happy.
19 min: Iwobi has the opportunity to shoot from 25 yards, but tries to release Robinson into space on the left wing. Wrong idea and poor execution: the pass rolls behind Robinson, forcing the wing-back miles wide, and then the flag goes up for offside anyway.
18 min: Smith Rowe wanders into acres of space in the middle of the park and is cynically nudged from behind by Mount, who goes into the book. Mount wags his finger in disagreement, but he knew what he was doing.
17 min: It’s Traore versus Martinez down the right again. Traore skinned his man last time round; this time Martinez positions himself well, and when Traore tries to zip past him again, eases his opponent off the ball with a perfectly timed shoulder. Goal kick. This match-up could provide plenty of entertainment tonight.
15 min: Rashford is skittled out on the left by a clumsy Pereira challenge. Free kick for United. Everyone stands just inside the Fulham box. Diallo swings it in. Casemiro wins a header but in aiming for the top left, can only send the ball sailing over the bar. Leno probably had it covered, but you wouldn’t bet the farm on it.
13 min: Fulham go up the other end, Tete forcing Onana into action with a long-range curler towards the top-right corner. A fine shot with a save to match. Nothing comes from the resulting corner.
12 min: Fernandes crosses low from the left. Leno flops on it to claim. But United come again at Fulham, through Diallo down the right channel. Diallo goes down, claiming a spot kick, but the referee’s not interested. Neither Robinson nor Iwobi, on either side, made any significant contact.
11 min: Fulham have settled well and are seeing more of the ball. The home fans get loud for the first time since Rashford’s super-early offside surge as Maguire slams a clearing header 50 yards up the pitch.
9 min 01 second: On Sky Sports, Gary Neville complains about Manchester United’s press for the first, but possibly not the last, time this season.
8 min: Muniz returns the favour, teeing up Traore just inside the United box on the right. Traore leans back and blazes wildly into the Stretford End. It’s hardly an original observation, but if Traore could finish, he’d be borderline unplayable.
7 min: Traore goes on a barrelling run down the right touchline. He knocks the ball past Martinez, backing himself in a footrace. He wins it easily, tearing away from the defender. He enters the box and has the option to shoot from a tight angle, but opts to pull back for Iwobi instead. A generous decision, but the wrong one as Iwobi, then Muniz, are crowded out. United were exposed there.
6 min: Pereira takes the free kick himself. It’s a poor one, deflected high into the air, easy pickings for Onana.
5 min: Fulham respond with some possession of their own, Iwobi popping up a couple of times out on the left, Pereira then drawing a foul from Diallo out on the right. Free kick to Fulham. Everyone lines up on the edge of the United box.
3 min: United have started confidently. Casemiro is seeing a fair bit of the ball in the centre of the park; Rashford has had a couple of gentle probes down the left too. “Looking forward to enjoying more of the Scholes-endorsed Mainoo this season and to see whether Smith Rowe thrives in those pocket areas his manager mentioned,” writes Justin Kavanagh. “Watching United last season, it wasn’t so much a case of having their pockets picked occasionally in midfield, so much as being regularly detrousered altogether.”
2 min: Fulham are kicking towards the Stretford End in this first half. “For Alex Iwobi, read Emile Smith Rowe,” begins Charles Antaki. “He leaves, as fellow-academy product Iwobi did, waved off with a tear in the eye and a blessing from the Arsenal faithful. May he prosper and score buckets, staring this evening and perhaps keeping one or two in reserve for the meetings with City. We’ll never know whether he leaves with regrets (though probably) or excitement and anticipation at getting a proper run in a decent team (also probably). The best of luck to him.”
20 seconds: Rashford is sent scampering clear down the left, but there’s to be no lightning start by the hosts, as the flag pops up for offside.
Here we go, then, as Fulham get the first match of the new Premier League season underway. But not before the knee of justice is taken. Andreas Pereira with 2024-25’s first kick of the ball. “I don’t have any Man U or Fulham defenders in my FPL team, so I’m confident of a 6-6 draw,” predicts Chloë Vaughan.
The teams are out! Expectation crackles around a packed Old Trafford as United and Fulham take to the field in their fetching new Adidas strips. Three bars ahoy! Trefoils to come. The hosts in red, the visitors in white, a classic look that acts as balm for tired eyes. There’s been plenty of noise ever since United’s quartet of new signings – the aforementioned Mazraoui, De Ligt and Zirkzee, plus the crocked Leny Yoro – were announced to the crowd a few minutes ago. The 2024-25 Premier League season kicks off in two or three of your Lancastrian minutes!
Wild Pre-season Optimism corner. “The fact that we won at Old Trafford last season and that we’ll be top of the league if we win tonight is leading to an unrealistic level of excitement at Craven Cottage en Occitanie. The presence of my Fulham supporting daughter here on holiday with us is just a further sign that only one result is possible tonight. May I be the first this season to intone that it’s the hope that kills you” – Richard Hirst
“So excited for the return of ‘proper’ football. I more or less had a year off from it last season, fed up with VAR, diving, arguing with refs, timewasting, and endless, endless post-match discussion of offside calls. But I’m back, baby. I’m in the works fantasy league, I’ve organised a score-prediction competition and I’m positively champing at the bit right now.
“8.05pm: Bruno collapses in agony after Robinson scowls at him, and earns a yellow card for the Fulham player. See you in August 2025” – Nathan Fisher
“Would United losing tonight do for their season what your uncle does for the family gathering the first time he mentions ‘woke mind virus’?” – Matthew Carpenter-Arevalo
“Ten Hag didn’t deliver the goods last season. And he won’t this season” – Jeff Sax
Marco Silva speaks to Sky Sports. “There are not going to be any surprises from Manchester United, I know how they are going to line up … it is always possible to improve … we lost four or five key players … starting XI players … but we made three signings … the pre-season has been really good … some really good games … we need some new signings to make an impact … we are going to sign more players … one player for [the departed João Palhinha’s] position … [Emile Smith Rowe] is going to give us something extra in the pocket areas … I am delighted to have him with us.”
History suggests Fulham are up against it tonight. They’ve played Manchester United on 91 previous occasions, winning just 15 times and losing 56. They’ve only won at Old Trafford twice in the last 50 years. But – and in football there’s always a but, isn’t there – one of those two wins came just six months ago, and fully deserved it was too. Here’s a reminder of what happened.
Pre-season reading. Get it while your optimism levels remain at 110 percent.
A relaxed Erik ten Hag speaks to Sky Sports. “Of course we are ready … we are very excited for the new season … we want to go forward … we have a strong belief we can go forward … we developed young players … they are more mature … they really contribute … it fits the DNA of Manchester United … proactive, dynamic, speed … we worked a lot on [4-2-2-2] last season … it fits very good for us … always you have to do things better … we improved in the last games of last season and pre-season … I am happy with the process we are now in … [Mazraoui] is quick, good agility, and can contribute to your build-up and attacking game … he can go forward and is quite good on the ball … we can’t stand still [on transfers] … it depends what happens in the market … but I am happy with the squad … I am quite confident for this season … there is a lot of communication [with the new sporting directors] so we are all on one page and on board … it feels good … a good vibe in the club as well as the team … a good start is important … a good foundation for the rest of the season … not everything will be 100 percent but we must get a result, get a win.”
Manchester United give a full debut to their new right-back Noussair Mazraoui. The club’s other available summer signings, Matthijs de Ligt and Joshua Zirkzee, are on the bench.
Fulham also have a debutant in their starting XI: Emile Smith Rowe. Jorge Cuenca, freshly signed from Villarreal, is on the bench.
The teams
Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Maguire, Martinez, Mazraoui, Mainoo, Casemiro, Diallo, Mount, Rashford, Bruno Fernandes.
Subs: Bayindir, de Ligt, Zirkzee, Eriksen, Garnacho, Antony, Evans, McTominay, Collyer.
Fulham: Leno, Tete, Diop, Bassey, Robinson, Lukic, Smith Rowe, Traore, Andreas Pereira, Iwobi, Rodrigo Muniz.
Subs: Benda, Reed, Jimenez, Wilson, Cairney, Cuenca, Castagne, King, Stansfield.
Referee: Robert Jones (Merseyside).
Preamble
Sound on! Vision on! Welcome, welcome, welcome home to the Premier League! And to borrow the words of legendary ITN newscaster Leonard Parkin: good evening again, it’s good to be back again, so let me simply say, let’s get on with it. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. It’s on!
