Lisandro Martinez's fortuitous effort earned Manchester United a 1-0 victory at Fulham in a drab Premier League encounter at Craven Cottage.

A game lacking in quality was settled by a huge slice of fortune when Martinez's strike from 30 yards deflected off Sasa Lukic and looped over Bernd Leno in the Fulham goal.

It represented the only shot on target for Ruben Amorim's men, who otherwise had failed to really hurt their opponents, but Amad Diallo had second ruled out late on, with the goal awarded on-pitch but overturned after a VAR review for offside.

Fulham, in fairness, had created little themselves, though, until Joachim Andersen saw a thumping header stunningly cleared off the line by substitute Toby Collyer in the closing stages.

United had just one effort in a forgettable first half where a couple of Alex Iwobi stingers were all Fulham had to show for their endeavours.

Bruno Fernandes stuck a low free-kick into the side-netting as the second half followed a similar pattern until Martinez tried his luck from range and saw his attempt cruelly loop over Leno via Lukic.

Collyer brilliantly headed Andersen's flicked header from Andrea Pereira's corner off the line as Fulham thought they had a late equaliser.

United then thought they had doubled the lead through Diallo deep into injury time but his low drive into the bottom-right corner was ruled out for offside.

It's three points on the road for the Reds #MUFC || #FULMUN
— Manchester United (@ManUtd) January 26, 2025

Data Debrief: Martinez loves his travel comforts for Red Devils

Martinez was an unlikely hero for United at Craven Cottage with what was just his third Premier League goal, all of which have come away from Old Trafford.

The Red Devils have now scored 68 per cent of their Premier League goals this season in the second half, with only Leicester City having a higher ratio (72 per cent).

It might not have been the best of season's for United, but they are one of four teams alongside Arsenal, Liverpool and Newcastle United to not suffer defeat when going 1-0 up in the Premier League this season.

Moreover, they have won each of their last eight Premier League away games against Fulham. Indeed, this win was just their third across their last 20 league matches in London (D5 L12), with all three victories in this period coming at Craven Cottage (also 2-1 in November 2022 & 1-0 in November 2023).