Manchester United lost 3-4 to Fulham on penalties in the fifth round of the FA Cup at Old Trafford on Sunday, March 2. The score was 1-1 after stipulated time.
Marco Silva’s Fulham qualified for the quarterfinals, ending United’s chances of winning a trophy this season.
Fulham had taken the lead in the first half, but Bruno Fernandes then equalised for the hosts in the second.
However, the defending champions then went on to lose in a penalty shoot-out to allow Fulham to be in contention of their first ever FA Cup title.
Manchester United’s Attack Has Gone Missing
Both Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee have looked inept in front of the opposition goal for Manchester United.
Hojlund and Zirkzee have scored 12 goals between them in the ongoing season. In comparison, Fernandes has alone scored 11 goals so far.
Manchester United have often relied on their centre-backs to score from set-pieces. Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez and Matthijs de Ligt have scored seven goals between them this season so far.
Manchester United have started with a 3-4-2-1 formation under Ruben Amorim, which has often changed to a 3-5-2 or a 3-4-3.
However, despite having a box formation in the midfield, United have failed to press high.
Neither Hojlund nor Zirkzee has managed to win the ball frequently in the final third, which means that United have hardly ever scored by taking advantage of their opposition giving the ball away inside their defensive third.
As a result, they have either relied on counter-attacks to score their goals. However, without Marcus Rashford, who has now left for Aston Villa on loan, or Alejandro Garnacho in the playing XI, the Red Devils have hardly looked like a team capable of hurting their opposition through counter-attacks.
This means that they have looked most dangerous when playing with a 3-5-2, with their wing-backs overlapping and delivering crosses into the box. Fernandes has also often shifted to either flank to deliver those crosses.
However, neither of their front two has looked like scoring from those crosses.
Chido Obi-Martin, the teenager who has made only three appearances for Manchester United so far, and replaced Hojlund against Fulham in the second half, has got into potential goal-scoring positions more often than either Hojlund or Zirkzee.
Zirkzee has really toiled hard in terms of his link-up play, but his inability to look potent inside the opposition penalty box remains a concern.
Quite inexplicably Amorim started with Christian Eriksen instead of Garnacho on the left flank against Fulham.
It was fairly obvious that Eriksen lacked the pace to play in such an attacking position. However, the Dane managed to send a few crosses in.
Crucial March Matches Await Manchester United
The Red Devils will take on Real Sociedad in the Round of 16 in the Europa League this month.
They will also face Arsenal and Leicester City in the Premier League in March. With 11 matches to go, they are 14th in the league table.
Their position is unlikely to improve much if they do not find genuine goal-scoring options within their team.
Irrespective of the formation they play in, their forwards must be able to utilise the goal-scoring opportunities that come their way.
It remains to be seen whether there is any improvement in their form in the upcoming matches.
Main Photo
Credit: IMAGO / Sportsphoto
Recording Date: 02.02.2025