ANPZirkzee celebrates his goal
NOS Voetbal•gisteren, 22:59
Joshua Zirkzee has had a dream debut for Manchester United. In a packed Old Trafford, the Dutch striker scored the only goal of the match against Fulham on the first match day of this Premier League season (1-0) just before the end.
Zirkzee came on after sixty minutes and initially played little part in the game. After 87 minutes, however, he was very alert to a cross from Alejandro Garnacho: with his left foot he worked the ball past the keeper.
Noussair Mazraoui and Matthijs de Ligt also made their debuts for Manchester United. They were both signed by the English top club this week. Mazraoui started in the first team and played a solid game, De Ligt came on as a substitute ten minutes before the end.
Pro ShotsMazraoui wins the ball with a tackle
Erik ten Hag had previously indicated that his team was not yet ready for the start of the competition. Due to international commitments of many players, the Dutchman had not had a complete selection at his disposal during the entire preparation.
Whether that was the reason for Manchester United’s difficult start is anyone’s guess, but the game of the ‘Red Devils’ was not convincing. Ten Hag’s team created chances with difficulty and was often vulnerable to Fulham’s counters.
The best chance for a long time was for Bruno Fernandes, who was put one-on-one with the keeper by Casemiro just before half-time. The Portuguese’s low shot was saved by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.
Heldenrol Zirkzee
The match looked set to end in a goalless draw until Zirkzee’s striker’s goal just before the end sent Old Trafford into a frenzy of joy.
With this, Manchester United starts the new season with three points and took revenge for the previous home game against Fulham, which was painfully lost 1-2 last season.
Erik ten Hag was very happy with newcomer Joshua Zirkzee after the late victory. “He has a number of qualities that we did not have and he showed that immediately,” said Ten Hag. “Joshua is good in combination and has to get into the penalty area to score. He did that tonight.”
Ten Hag felt his team needed far too many chances to score a goal. “Maybe it’s because it’s only the beginning of the season and players still have to get into their top form. We have enough players with scoring ability.”
