<p>Ruben Amorim welcomed a rare clean sheet in <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/fernandes-late-strike-keeps-man-utd-alive-23471486" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><strong>Manchester United</strong></a>&rsquo;s 1-0 win at Fulham on Sunday but did not gloss over his side&rsquo;s need to improve despite a vital three points.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Lisandro Martinez&rsquo;s deflected winner offered some respite to Amorim, who has won just four of his 12 Premier League games in charge.&nbsp;</p>
<p>United climb to 12th in the table, now a comfortable 13 points above the bottom three. But their performance was in keeping with many others under two different managers this season, against sides with a fraction of their budget.&nbsp;</p>
<p><img title="Ruben Amorim" src="http://images.mid-day.com/images/images/2025/jan/martin-uni-b_e.jpg" alt="Ruben Amorim" width="1280" height="720" /><strong><em>Ruben Amorim</em></strong></p>
<p>There was little to get United co-owner Jim Ratcliffe excited as he watched on in west London, but victory does dispel any remaining notion that United could be dragged into a relegation battle.</p>
<p><strong>Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/thakur-public-beat-jbcn-2-0-to-emerge-u-10-champs-mssa-23473285" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Thakur Public beat JBCN 2-0 to emerge U-10 champs</a></strong></p>
<p>&ldquo;Not a great game and you can feel it, no great chances,&rdquo; said Amorim.&nbsp;</p>
<p>&ldquo;We tried to control the game, tried to play our game but we need to improve a lot with the ball. It&rsquo;s really important [to keep a clean sheet] because clearly you are closer to wining games and getting confidence. We didn&rsquo;t suffer too much today and that&rsquo;s a good sign. It&rsquo;s not just the clean sheet, it&rsquo;s the way we defended,&rdquo; he added.&nbsp;</p>
<h2>Fulham&rsquo;s bright start</h2>
<p>Fulham made the brighter start but were also guilty of a lack of penetration in a pedestrian 90 minutes.&nbsp;</p>
<p>Andre Onana returned in goal for the visitors despite his error for Brighton&rsquo;s third goal in the Seagulls 3-1 win at Old Trafford last weekend. The Cameroonian was forced into two early saves from the lively Alex Iwobi.&nbsp;</p>
<p>It took just before the hour mark for United to seriously threaten when Bruno Fernandes&rsquo; clever free-kick slid under the Fulham wall but just the wrong side of the post. Rasmus Hojlund&rsquo;s return had been one of five changes made by Amorim from a dramatic 2-1 Europa League win over Rangers on Thursday.&nbsp;</p>
<p>But the Dane&rsquo;s goal drought extended to 11 games as he barely posed a threat before being replaced by Joshua Zirkzee. And it was little surprise that it was a moment of fortune rather than inspiration that broke the deadlock. Martinez took aim from long range but in his desperation to block, Sasa Lukic&rsquo;s deflection saw the ball fly over goalkeeper Bernd Leno and dip into the top corner. &ldquo;I think it was lucky, but an important win,&rdquo; said Martinez. &ldquo;It means a lot. Not only to the fans, but for us because we have suffered a lot.&rdquo;</p>
<h2>Leicester beat Spurs 2-1</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, Leicester pushed Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou closer to the exit door with a 2-1 win that extended Spurs&rsquo; dismal run. Leicester pushed Tottenham boss Ange Postecoglou closer to the exit door with a 2-1 win that extended Spurs&rsquo; dismal run.</p>
<p>In another game, Aston Villa&rsquo;s hopes of <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/sports/football/article/arne-slot-liverpool-winning-streak-gets-side-eye-from-his-father-23471247" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener"><strong>Champions League</strong></a> qualification for a second consecutive season were dented as an under-strength West Ham battled back to earn a 1-1 draw in Birmingham.</p>
<h2>Amorim says 63-year-old coach has better chance of playing for United than Rashford</h2>
<p>Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim believes the club&rsquo;s 63-year-old goalkeeper coach has a better chance of making his team than outcast striker Marcus Rashford.&nbsp;</p>
<p>England international Rashford has not played for United since December 12 and was again left out of the squad for the 1-0 win at Fulham on Sunday.&nbsp;<br />Amorim insisted goalkeeping coach Jorge Vital would have been a better option. &ldquo;Today on the bench we missed a bit of pace to change the game, but I prefer it like this. I will put [in] Vital before I put [in] a player who doesn&rsquo;t give the maximum every day, so I will not change in that department,&rdquo; said Amorim.&nbsp;<br />He added: &ldquo;It&rsquo;s always the same reason [why Rashford is not playing]. The reason is the training, what I think a footballer should do in training, in life and every day.&rdquo;</p>
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Man Utd boss Ruben Amorim says it’s a good sign that they defended well and kept a clean sheet in 1-0 win over Fulham; insists team must improve further

‘We didn’t suffer much’

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‘We didn’t suffer much’

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