In the final Premier League match before the World Cup break, Alejandro Garnacho of Manchester United announced himself after coming off the bench by beating Fulham with an injury-time goal.
Fulham appeared to have earned a point in the tense second half at Craven Cottage, but the 18-year-old Argentine raced through and beat Bernd Leno with a shot into the bottom corner.
After David de Gea had made a number of excellent saves, Fulham’s Dan James had earlier come off the bench to score an equalizer off Tom Cairney’s low cross, giving the hosts what appeared to be a well-deserved point.
The visitors took the lead in the first half when Christian Eriksen, who had a cardiac arrest during a Euro 2020 match for Denmark against Finland in June 2021, slid in to score at the back post after Bruno Fernandes sent in a low cross.
But Garnacho’s winning strike, which came with essentially the final kick of the game, gave United the victory.
Due to the Qatar World Cup, which starts on November 20, the Premier League now takes a six-week break with no domestic top-flight games until December 26.
With a game remaining on Antonio Conte’s side, the victory moves United up to fifth place, 11 points behind leaders Arsenal and three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham.
Fulham has spent each of the previous five seasons either being promoted to or relegated from the Premier League, but they are in a good position to end that up-and-down streak as they currently sit ninth and have already matched their five wins from their previous top-flight campaign in 2020-21.