Bassey, Iwobi Turn Theatre of Dreams into Nightmare for Man United

PREMIER  LEAGUE

•  Fulham claim first win at Old Trafford since 2003

Duro Ikhazuagbe 

Nigerian internationals, Calvin Bassey and Alex Iwobi punctured Manchester United’s push for a Top 4 finish this season with the Super Eagles duo scoring Fulham’s goals in the 2-1 defeat of the Red Devils at Old Trafford on Saturday evening.

First, it was defender, Bassey who fired his first goal for the Cottagers to give Fulham the lead. The Nigerian left back who made appreciable impact in Nigeria’s adventure at AFCON 2023 in Côte d’Ivoire, midway through the second half, lashed home the goal from a corner in the 65th minute.

When the visitors were looking forward to bagging the three points, Manchester United’s Harry Maguire tapped in after Bernd Leno spilled Bruno Fernandes’ effort to cancel Bassey’s goal in the 89th minute.

But the drama of the evening appeared not over yet.

Former Arsenal and Everton middle man, Iwobi, struck  a 97th minute stoppage-time winner as Fulham snatched their first win at Old Trafford since October 2003. It also ended a run of 16 visits to the Theatre of Dream without a victory.

The defeat leaves the Red Devils eight points adrift of fourth place Aston Villa who are on 52 points as against United’s 44.

Speaking after the big win, Iwobi said in the post match that he was “over the moon” with the result and revealed they remained confident they could win even after Maguire’s equaliser.

“We always had the ability to create chances, we had so many in the final third, it was just about taking them and luckily I was able to take mine at the end,” he said. “I’m over the moon right now to come back into the team and get the win here – there is no better feeling,” gushed Iwobi with wings on his shoulder.

The defeat must also have come with a mixture of trepidation and hope for British Billionaire Jim Ratcliffe who completed a minority stake in Manchester United in the week.

Ratcliffe revealed his ambition to topple Manchester City and Liverpool at the top of the English game within three years.

But the work that lies ahead of the billionaire on and off the field was exposed as Fulham dominated a ragged United for long spells. Rodrigo Muniz came closest to opening the scoring before halftime when he hit the post.

Elsewhere, Aston Villa surged clear in fourth by beating Nottingham Forest 4-2 on Saturday.

Villa opened up a five-point lead over Tottenham in the battle for a top-four finish despite a wobble either side of halftime against Forest.

Unai Emery’s men were coasting towards a first home win of 2024 as they led 3-0 inside 39 minutes.

Ollie Watkins tapped in Leon Bailey’s cross to open the scoring after just four minutes.

Douglas Luiz then struck twice to take his tally for the season to nine Premier League goals, all of which have come at Villa Park.

Forest remain just four points above the relegation zone and reacted too late to help their survival hopes.

In another game, Oliver Glasner got off to a dream start as Crystal Palace manager with a 3-0 win over 10-man Burnley.

Palace had won just three times in 20 games stretching back to September to bring Roy Hodgson’s second spell in charge to an end.