Ten Hag claims United deserved more from Fulham defeat

Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag blamed a costly mistake after Fulham's last-gasp winner at Old Trafford saw the visitors grab all three points.

Cottagers centre-half Calvin Bassey opened the scoring in the 65th minute with his first goal for the club by firing a loose ball inside the box into the roof of the net.

It took the Red Devils until one minute from the end of regulation time to respond when Harry Maguire tucked away a rebound from Bernd Leno's save.

But Fulham provided a decisive blow in the 97th minute as Alex Iwobi's strike wrong-footed goalkeeper Andre Onana to send the visitors into pandemonium.

United manager Ten Hag was upset at the mistake which he says led to an undeserved winner.

He told BBC Sport: "It was a throw-in [for Fulham] in the corner, we had them under pressure and we have one player in the wrong position.

"As a team we should manage that and make sure everyone is in the right position. We let them escape and it is avoidable.

"The team showed big character to fight back, we deserved the equaliser and went for the win — we showed big personality and character. 

"It was that mistake. Before that we went for the win and we should have taken our opportunities."

The result saw Fulham end a run of 16 trips to Old Trafford without a victory in all competitions since October 2003.

United have now lost eight home games in all competitions this season — but Ten Hag believes his side were close to a positive result.

He added: "We struggled with their influence and their impact on our left side. 

"But we reacted well and once we had that we got more from the game and took control to create the chances."