Bruno Fernandes struck in stoppage time to ease pressure on his manager Erik ten Hag as Manchester United snatched a hard-fought 1-0 win at Fulham.
Nigerian duo of Alex Iwobi and Calvin Bassey started for Fulham but was unable to rescue any points for their side.
Manchester United thought they had claimed an early opening goal, but Scott McTominay’s finish at the back post from a free-kick in the eighth minute was ruled out for offside after a VAR review as Harry Maguire was deemed offside.
In a match of few chances, Andre Onana made an important second-half save from Harry Wilson before then parrying a fierce effort from Palhinha.
The match looked to be heading towards a stalemate when, on his 200th appearance for the club, Fernandes became the hero.
Fulham had three chances to clear the ball but instead, it fell to the URed Devil’s captain, who showed great skills to turn defenders before driving a low shot past Bernd Leno.
A third consecutive away win, and a seventh victory in a row by a single goal means United climbed up to sixth on 18 points.
Fulham’s third consecutive defeat at home leaves them 14th on 12 points and they extended their winless run against Manchester United in all competitions to 18 matches, drawing three and losing 15.