Martínez goal gives stale Man Utd win at Fulham

Manchester United laboured to a 1-0 win away at Fulham on Sunday via Lisandro Martínez's deflected long-range effort.

Martínez's speculative strike in the 78th minute bounced off Sasa Lukic and looped over Bernd Leno in the home side's goal.

The win will come as welcome domestic respite for United head coach Ruben Amorim, who saw his team handily beaten by Brighton last weekend for a sixth defeat in nine games in the division.

Fulham came close to an equaliser in the final minutes, with academy graduate Toby Collyer clearing Joachim Andersen's header from a corner off the line.

Substitute Rodrigo Muniz had one final chance in stoppage time, but the striker blasted well over the bar from inside the penalty area.

Immediately afterwards, Amad looked to have sealed the three points in the dying moments after combining neatly with Kobbie Mainoo, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

"I think I was lucky, but an important win," Martinez told TNT Sports. "I am happy with the way we won the game. It doesn't matter who scores -- the most important is the three points.

"It means a lot. Not only to the fans, but for us because we have suffered a lot. It is a hard win, at this club the pressure is hard, but we are here. We know how difficult it is. Even a game like today we have to win and be humble after winning."

The result moves United into 12th in the league standings, four points behind Fulham in 10th.

"One shot on target from Man Utd -- a lucky deflection," Fulham coach Marco Silva said after the loss.

"We were the team that dominated more. We had two or three good moments to score but I don't remember one dangerous moment from Man Utd."