MANCHESTER, England — There's nothing like a late winner from a new striker to fuel early-season optimism, and Joshua Zirkzee delivered it for Manchester United and its manager Erik ten Hag.
Just when it looked like the Red Devils’ campaign was set to get off to a frustrating start after a series of missed chances, the £36.5m summer signing from Bologna came off the bench and secured a 1-0 win over Fulham on Friday with a goal on his debut in the 87th minute. Zirkzee’s celebration was relatively serene considering what he had just done, while Ten Hag’s reaction – both fists clenched above his head on the touchline – was a mix of joy and relief.
After a lacklustre 2023-24 season, this was the United manager's first chance to show everyone that things will be different this season, something that would have been hard to argue after a home draw on Matchday 1. Instead, Ten Hag had the chance to talk about the positives, and most of them were down to Zirkzee.
“It's very good for a striker to come on and score his first goal,” said Ten Hag after the match. “The win is very satisfying. Starting the season with a win is always important. We are not prepared as a squad, as a team, many players are not in top form. We only had 10 days with this team training together.
“I expect more from this team, but we have a foundation on which we can build. The performance is good, over the 90 minutes, of course, there is room for improvement, but I think the overall performance and execution of the game plan was very good.”
Zirkzee's intervention was decisive in the match, but it does not hide all the problems. With the Dutch international on the bench for almost an hour, United played with Bruno Fernandes as number 9 and the chances came one after another.
In the first half, Fernandes found the target twice for Fulham and Bernd Leno made two saves. United's desperation to score resulted in Harry Maguire being booked for simulating a penalty.
Early in the second half, Marcus Rashford forced Mason Mount to pass the ball but Leno again blocked the shot. United were the fewest-scoring team in the Premier League's top ten last season and for much of Friday's game it looked as if Ten Hag's side would once again claim a clean sheet.
It's a problem that has crept into the new campaign.
In their final game of the American tour against Liverpool, United could have been two goals ahead but conceded three goals and lost 3-0. At Wembley in the Community Shield, Rashford had two chances to score which, had he done so, would have avoided the need for a penalty shoot-out to decide the match.
“I think one space we need to fill is the gap in the penalty area,” said Ten Hag. “We saw that in the friendlies and last week against City. We created enough chances to not have to wait for a late winner. We need to be more composed and kill. Maybe it's the start of the season, players need to come on full speed. We have enough players with goalscoring ability.”
Rasmus Hojlund can't come back soon enough after his 10-week break due to a hamstring injury he sustained in the United States. The difference this year is that Ten Hag has a backup.
Zirkzee, scorer of 11 Serie A goals last season, came on in the 61st minute and United immediately had a focal point for their attack.
When the goal finally came, Zirkzee dropped back to the centre of the pitch, picked up the ball and passed it to Casemiro. Alejandro Garnacho crossed from the right and Zirkzee was in the right place to attack the ball and slot it past Leno into the goal. It was one of 12 touches he needed, but that was all he needed to change the mood at Old Trafford.
It was a striker's goal that new assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy, scorer of 150 goals for United, would have been proud of. It is 23 years since Van Nistelrooy scored twice against Fulham at Old Trafford on his Premier League debut.
There were other positive aspects.
Despite some nervy moments, such as Lisandro Martinez's clearance off his own crossbar with the score at 0-0, it was the first time the team had conceded a goal at home since March. New signing Noussair Mazraoui also impressed at right-back.
But it was Zirkzee who stole the show.
“It was very important to score the first goal as a striker,” said Ten Hag. “It's a great satisfaction for him because strikers have to score. That's the first skill you have to show when you come to a new club as a striker.”
“He has qualities that we didn't have and he showed it straight away. He's very good at combinations but he has to get into the box to score goals.”
United also won their opening game of last season 1-0, before giving an early warning of what was to come by losing four of their next five. The fresh start at Old Trafford, with a new co-owner in Sir Jim Ratcliffe, new executives in Dan Ashworth and Omar Berrada and new players such as Zirkzee, will fuel optimism at the club, but Ten Hag knows better than anyone that only positive results will keep it going.
Zirkzee arrived just in time to deliver the first one.
