There was little to separate Fulham and Manchester United until Lisandro Martinez saw a shot from distance loop in.

Manchester United edged closer to the top half of the Premier League table with a 1-0 win over Fulham under the lights at Craven Cottage on Sunday night.

It was the hosts who enjoyed the better of the action early doors, Alex Iwobi managing to fire off two rather tame shots into the body of Andre Onana. Meanwhile, the best Red Devils moment came as Alejandro Garnacho skipped past the challenge of Harry Wilson before Antonee Robinson nodded away the dangerous cross that followed.

Neither side really came close to finding the quality to go ahead and it wasn’t until legs started to grow weary that spaces started to open up after the break. Marco Silva was forced to turn to Adama Traore early due to a Harry Wilson injury, but the bulky winger wasted no time in reigniting his on-pitch feud with Lisandro Martinez as he bundled into the United centre-back.

Adama looked to be leading a spell of Fulham chances but that momentum was stemmed when Martinez saw a deflected strike from distance loop over the head of Bernd Leno. The Cottagers were a whisker away from a late leveller when Joachim Andersen’s headed flew goalbound, only for young Toby Collyer to clear off the line. Here’s how the Fulham players rated.

Fulham player ratings

GK - Bernd Leno, 5

Largely untested by Manchester United but did get a hand to the deflected Martinez shot - better contact could have tipped that over the bar.

LB - Antonee Robinson, 7

More conservative in his attacking output given Amad Diallo’s pace. Chose his moments to get forward well but lacked a little bit of quality on his crosses. Some nice defensive work.

CB - Calvin Bassey, 8

A pretty swashbuckling performance at centre-back. Very good with the ball at his feet, Bassey will be furious to not have a clean sheet tonight.

CB - Joachim Andersen, 4

The opposite sort of performance to his centre-back colleague. So often careless with his passing, which caused groans around the Cottage. Did manage to keep Rasmus Hojlund quiet, but that is perhaps not all too hard to do. Came so close to heading home an equaliser which Toby Collyer headed off the line.

RB - Timothy Castagne, 5

Struggled against Garnacho more after the break, hitting the deck too early for a block moments before the Manchester United goal. Gave away a free kick on the edge of the box too, which Bruno Fernandes wasted.

CDM - Sasa Lukic, 8

A lot to like about that performance. So often in the right place at the right time but did fatigue as the game went on.,

CDM - Sander Berge, 6

A little hap-hazard with some clumsy challenges when over physical.

LW - Alex Iwobi, 7

Lively early and made Onana work in the first half. Sometimes overcomplicates the pass and just lacks a ferocity with his final product.

CAM - Emile Smith-Rowe, 5

Struggled to find influence in that pocket tonight. Fulham needed a source of spark but the former Arsenal man couldn’t be the provider.

Adama Traore makes impact from bench

RW - Harry Wilson, 6

A pretty quiet 52 minutes before he limped off with injury. Was done by Garnacho in the first half, which led to a decent Red Devils chance, but recovered well to land a crunching slide tackle to get the ball back.

ST - Raul Jimenez, 4

Didn’t offer much up top tonight before his sub in the second half. Struggled to get the ball to stick at his feet.

SUB - Adama Traore, 8

Looked capable of changing the game with his directness. Clearly up for the battle against Martinez, crashing into the United defender moments after entering play.

SUB - Rodrigo Muniz, 5

Added some energy in the press but not hugely dynamic from the bench. Lashed at his couple of chances, which were decent opportunities.

SUB - Andreas Pereira, 7

Busied himself as Fulham desperately searched for an equaliser but all a little too late.

SUB - Tom Cairney, 7

Helped Fulham regain some control in the centre of the park.