Paul Pogba's brace at the Craven Cottage has pushed Manchester United back to top four for the first time since the opening night of the Premier League.
Martial scored his goal either side of Pogba's brace to have himself directly involved in 50 Premier League goals more than any other Man Utd player since his debut.
The first chance for Fulham came in the 4th minute when Andre Schurle's effort deflected off David De Gea after he was set through by Bryan. Mitrovic was involved too in the build-up that saw the home side get a corner that came to nothing too.
Opener
Paul Pogba stood in the right position to pounce on a pass from Anthony Martial in the 14th minute and his shot from a tight angle beat Rico in goal to hand Man United their first goal of the game. Le Marchand lost the ball thirty yards away and Herrera collected it with calmness before playing Martial down the left wing. the Frenchman found his international counterpart who scored his 7th goal under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
"The goalkeeper gambles on the ball being played across the box and Pogba smashes it inside him. It’s a wonderful, wonderful strike from Paul Pogba, he’s been the one breaking forward into that channel. Now’s he’s bouncing along with those Manchester United fans behind the goal." Garry Neville told Sky Sports at the Craven Cottage.
Martial sprinted for some 60 yards after Phil Jones won the ball in his own half and picked him n the 23rd minute. Martial, in a show of some individual brilliance beat backtracking Odoi and Le Marchand before slotting home with some sumptuous strike that outstretched Rico could not get a hold of it.
Pogba brace from the penalty
Rico saved Fulham more blushes when he stopped a fierce 15-yard shot by Herrera. But that did not last as Juan Mata won a penalty for the Red Devils after he was tripped by Le Marchand. Man United broke through clinically via Romelu Lukaku and when the Belgian saw Mata got into the host's box, he released the ball for him but the Spaniard could not afford space to inflict danger. He was bundled by Le Marchand and Pogba took the penalty to push the score quite far for Fulham.
“It’s symptomatic of what’s happened in the last five minutes. Fulham are desperate, really desperate. It comes from a break from Lukaku, his pass looks to behind Mata but Le Marchand bundles him over. There is no defensive awareness from Fulham, it’s so clumsy. They are getting everything they deserve.†Neville added at the Craven Cottage.