United could - and should - have won this game with something to spare. The champions peppered the Fulham goal with 31 shots but were denied by a combination of profligacy and superb Maarten Stekelenburg goalkeeping with just nine hitting the target. Worse still, the Red Devils put in 81 crosses in this game - the most by a Premier League club since 2006 - yet only 18 of them found a team-mate. Time and again United squandered opportunities to put Fulham away and though they bossed the possession stats at 75%, failed to make their superiority tell. David Moyes said in his post-match press conference at full time that his side should have won 3-1 but that's being kind - it could have been six. The lack of a killer instinct raises questions over Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie, both of whom started last night, but still don't look quite fit. And that's particularly true of the latter, who has been in and out of the side with injury this season and, though he scored, was kept largely quiet here.
Joseph is an accredited football journalist and has interviewed nearly all of the current 20 Barclay's Premier League managers. He is also a correspondent for Bleacher Report and has written for Caught Offside and Give Me Football.
