{"id":91962,"date":"2026-09-21T02:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-20T22:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/?p=91962"},"modified":"2026-09-21T00:06:03","modified_gmt":"2026-09-20T20:06:03","slug":"man-utd-salvage-fulham-draw-carrick-pressure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/man-utd-salvage-fulham-draw-carrick-pressure\/","title":{"rendered":"Manchester United Salvage Draw at Fulham as Pressure Mounts on Carrick"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"background:#f7fafc;padding:15px;border-left:4px solid #3b82f6;\">\n<ul>\n<li>Manchester United drew 1-1 with Fulham on Sunday.<\/li>\n<li>Matheus Cunha scored an 89th-minute equalizer.<\/li>\n<li>United have won only one of their first five league games.<\/li>\n<li>Michael Carrick is facing mounting pressure after a poor start to the season.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>A Narrow Escape at Craven Cottage<\/h2>\n<p>Manchester United avoided a third consecutive defeat on Sunday, salvaging a 1-1 draw against Fulham at Craven Cottage thanks to an 89th-minute equalizer from Matheus Cunha. The result, while preventing a loss, has done little to ease the growing scrutiny surrounding manager Michael Carrick, whose side has endured a lackluster start to the 2026 Premier League campaign.<\/p>\n<p>United fell behind in the second half after a defensive mix-up led to an own goal by Lisandro Martinez. The defender inadvertently directed the ball into his own net after goalkeeper Senne Lammens had initially parried a shot from Calvin Bassey. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/sports\/2026\/9\/20\/man-utd-salvage-fulham-draw-as-pressure-mounts-on-carrick\">Al Jazeera<\/a>, the late goal from Cunha\u2014which took a significant deflection off David Affengruber\u2014was the only moment of relief in a match where United struggled to assert dominance.<\/p>\n<h2>Carrick Defends Performance Amidst Criticism<\/h2>\n<p>Speaking after the match, Carrick rejected labels of his team being &#8220;passive&#8221; during the second half, despite a statistical dip in control. &#8220;I thought we should\u2019ve won the game. We created enough to win,&#8221; Carrick told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcsports.com\/soccer\/news\/michael-carricks-manchester-united-are-in-a-funk-what-did-manager-say-after-fulham-draw\">NBC Sports<\/a>. He pointed to Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno\u2019s performance, noting that Leno made several crucial saves and the visitors hit the post twice.<\/p>\n<p>United currently sit in 12th place with a record of one win, two draws, and two losses from their opening five fixtures. This start is particularly concerning given the perceived ease of the team&#8217;s early schedule, which included matches against Hull, Ipswich, and Everton. The club already trails league leaders Manchester City by 10 points.<\/p>\n<h2>Stakes and Upcoming Challenges<\/h2>\n<p>The pressure on Carrick stems from a perceived rigidity in his 4-2-3-1 formation and a lack of tactical flexibility during matches. As noted by Yahoo Sports, while it may be early in the season, the team\u2019s inability to capitalize on a favorable fixture list has prompted questions about the manager&#8217;s long-term suitability. The team faces a difficult stretch ahead, with upcoming Premier League fixtures against Tottenham, Chelsea, Leeds, and Bournemouth before the end of October, alongside Champions League trips to Atletico Madrid and Como.<\/p>\n<p>Carrick will be hoping for the return of key personnel, including Benjamin Sesko and Matthijs De Ligt, to provide a much-needed boost. United return to action on October 10 against bottom-of-the-table Tottenham, a match that is being viewed as a critical juncture for both Carrick and his counterpart Roberto De Zerbi.<\/p>\n<section class=\"related-articles azat-depth-followups\" style=\"margin:2rem 0;padding:1rem;background:#f7fafc;\">\n<h3 style=\"margin-top:0;font-size:1.5rem;color:#333;\">Follow-up Questions<\/h3>\n<ul style=\"list-style:none;padding:0;margin:0;\">\n<li style=\"display:block;margin:.75rem 0;padding:.75rem 0;border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.08);\">\n<details style=\"display:block;\">\n<summary style=\"cursor:pointer;list-style:revert;color:#c95a5a;font-weight:700;line-height:1.45;\">What is confirmed in this story?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"margin:.65rem 0 0 1.15rem;color:#333;line-height:1.65;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0;color:#333;\">Manchester United Salvage Draw at Fulham as Pressure Mounts on Carrick Matheus Cunha\u2019s late equalizer secured a 1-1 draw for Manchester United against Fulham, marking another underwhelming performance for Michael Carrick\u2019s side.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"display:block;margin:.75rem 0;padding:.75rem 0;border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.08);\">\n<details style=\"display:block;\">\n<summary style=\"cursor:pointer;list-style:revert;color:#c95a5a;font-weight:700;line-height:1.45;\">What should readers watch next?<\/summary>\n<div style=\"margin:.65rem 0 0 1.15rem;color:#333;line-height:1.65;\">\n<p style=\"margin:0;color:#333;\">United fell behind in the second half after a defensive mix-up led to an own goal by Lisandro Martinez.<\/p>\n<p style=\"margin:.55rem 0 0 0;color:#333;\"><strong>What remains unclear:<\/strong> The available reporting does not yet fully settle the next step in the story.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/details>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/section>\n<section class=\"related-articles azat-depth-perspectives\" style=\"margin:2rem 0;padding:1rem;background:#f7fafc;\">\n<h3 style=\"margin-top:0;font-size:1.5rem;color:#333;\">Perspectives<\/h3>\n<div style=\"margin:.75rem 0 1rem 0;padding:1rem;color:#333;font-weight:700;line-height:1.45;\">Michael Carrick&#8217;s view vs Critic\/Observer view<\/div>\n<div style=\"margin:1rem 0 0;padding:1rem 0 0;border-top:1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.08);\">\n<div style=\"margin:0 0 .75rem;color:#333;font-weight:700;line-height:1.45;\">Story lens<\/div>\n<div style=\"display:flex;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:.9rem;align-items:stretch;\">\n<div style=\"flex:1 1 240px;min-width:0;padding:.85rem .9rem;border-top:3px solid #8bb7e8;color:#333;line-height:1.65;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0 0 .45rem;font-weight:700;color:#333;\">Michael Carrick&#8217;s view<\/div>\n<p>Carrick maintains that the team is performing well enough to win, attributing recent results to bad luck and individual errors rather than systemic failure. He insists the squad should focus on the positives and avoid panic, signaling a desire to stay the course with his current tactical approach<\/p><\/div>\n<div style=\"flex:1 1 240px;min-width:0;padding:.85rem .9rem;border-top:3px solid #d6c78f;color:#333;line-height:1.65;\">\n<div style=\"margin:0 0 .45rem;font-weight:700;color:#333;\">Critic\/Observer view<\/div>\n<p>Observers argue that Carrick\u2019s rigid adherence to his 4-2-3-1 formation and failure to adjust during games are holding the team back. Given the favorable early schedule, critics suggest that the current 12th-place standing reflects a deeper issue with team balance and preparation that may require urgent intervention<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matheus Cunha\u2019s late equalizer secured a 1-1 draw for Manchester United against Fulham, marking another underwhelming performance for Michael Carrick\u2019s side.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":-1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"googlesitekit_rrm_CAow5Nm1DA:productID":"","am_featured_image":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/manchester-united-stadium-seats.jpg","am_featured_image_alt":"Rows of red stadium seats featuring the Manchester United club crest logo","_azat_image_credit":"","_azat_image_creator":"","_azat_image_copyright":"","_azat_image_source_url":"","_azat_image_license_name":"","_azat_image_license_url":"","_azat_image_acquire_license_url":"","_azat_image_rights_status":"","_azat_image_caption":"","am_featured_image_credit":"","am_featured_image_creator":"","am_featured_image_copyright":"","am_featured_image_source_url":"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/ace\/standard\/1024\/cpsprodpb\/561c\/live\/2c8292a0-eeda-11ee-b0e1-b9dd5ac46984.jpg","am_featured_image_license_name":"","am_featured_image_license_url":"","am_featured_image_acquire_license_url":"","am_featured_image_rights_status":"unknown","am_featured_image_caption":"","_azat_threads_post_url":"","_azat_threads_article_post_url":"","_azat_threads_image_post_url":"","_azat_threads_video_post_url":"","_azat_youtube_video_id":"","_azat_youtube_video_url":"","_azat_youtube_shorts_url":"","_azat_include_in_video_stream":true,"_azat_auto_publish_channels":"[\"x\",\"facebook\",\"instagram\",\"threads\",\"bluesky\",\"linkedin\",\"youtube\",\"tiktok\"]","azat_editorial_review_required":0,"azat_editorial_review_reasons":"[]","azat_editorial_validated_at":1789930950,"azat_cs_package_key":"carrick","footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[740,28020,249],"class_list":["post-91962","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sport","tag-manchester-united","tag-michael-carrick","tag-premier-league"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/manchester-united-stadium-seats.jpg","_embedded":{"wp:featuredmedia":[{"id":-1,"source_url":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/manchester-united-stadium-seats.jpg","media_type":"image","mime_type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91962","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=91962"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":91963,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/91962\/revisions\/91963"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=91962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=91962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/azat.tv\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=91962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}