Manchester United required a late shimmer of inspiration from Bruno Fernandes to seal a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage on what was often a stale afternoon.

This was far from a textbook performance from Erik ten Hag‘s men but in the immediate aftermath, the only thing they will care about is the three points.

It started as a day of uncertainty with Marcus Rashford left out with an injury and Raphael Varane benched for Jonny Evans again, but they held their nerve against a Fulham outfit who had more shots than them.

Harry Maguire continued his renaissance with a fine performance but players such as Antony and Rasmus Hojlund left a lot to be desired.

Meanwhile, it was a solid day for Calvin Bassey and Harry Wilson but Marco Silva‘s men slipped to a third defeat in five Premier League outings.

Here are Mail Sport’s player ratings from Manchester United’s trip to Fulham.

Bruno Fernandes scored a late winner for Erik ten Hag’s side at Fulham after a nervy game

Andre Onana made a couple of important saves in the second half as United came under pressure at times from the hosts

Andre Onana – 7

Kept his first Premier League clean sheet since September. Admittedly didn’t have much to do but did fine when Harry Wilson and Joao Palhinha called him into action.

Aaron Wan-Bissaka – 7

This was more like it. After returning from the sidelines in the humiliating defeat to Newcastle, he impressed on his first start since mid-September.

Harry Maguire – 8

Looking increasingly like his old self. Played the full match despite going down a couple of times with a head injury. Deemed offside and to have interfered in the run-up to Scott McTominay’s disallowed goal.

Jonny Evans – 6.5

People questioned him starting over Raphael Varane again but he did himself no disservice. Blocked some shots and even had an ambitious volley effort, though it went over.

Harry Maguire received medical attention twice for a head injury but played the full 90 minutes and performed well

Diogo Dalot – 6

Cleared off the line but didn’t exactly keep Wilson quiet and was booked for hacking him down in the closing minutes.

Christian Eriksen – 5

A mixed bag where he floated in some nice balls but also made errors.

Scott McTominay – 6.5

Had a goal ruled out by VAR and was eager to make a difference today, making plenty of surging runs forward.

Bruno Fernandes – 7

Confounded his critics with a nicely worked goal in stoppage time. How he needed that. Forced Leno into a save with a free-kick, too.

Antony struggled and was taken off just after the hour mark for youngster Facundo Pellistri

Alejandro Garnacho – 6

Offered moments where he looked threatening. Clearly talented and, aged 19, he has plenty of time to develop into the sort of player who can impact the game for longer periods. Booked for a foul on the counter.

Rasmus Hojlund – 5.5

Struggled when the service wasn’t particularly good. Frustrated to be taken off for Anthony Martial but he wasn’t serving the goods.

Erik ten Hag (manager) – 6.5

Hardly extracted an uber-convincing performance from his team but made the right choices bringing off Antony and Hojlund and ultimately got a win.

Rasmus Hojlund was contained by Calvin Bassey and had another difficult afternoon

Substitutes:

Facundo Pellistri – 7

Keen to impress and had a shot a few minutes after being introduced, though it was tame. Replaced Antony.

Anthony Martial – 5

Replaced Hojlund but wasn’t any great shakes and struggled to get into a bitty game.

Mason Mount – N/A

Raphael Varane – N/A