Martin Keown unimpressed with £2m Fulham player’s ability in the air vs Man United
It was a heartbreaking defeat for Fulham against Manchester United yesterday and Antonee Robinson is one player who won’t want to see a replay of the goal any time soon.
Reviewing the game on Match of the Day, Martin Keown was unimpressed with the comedy of errors that led to Bruno Fernandes’s late winner.
Fulham started the game slowly and after a lengthy VAR check, Scott McTominay’s early goal was ruled out due to Harry Maguire being offside.
However, Marco Silva’s team grew into the game and more than matched their opponents.
Rodrigo Muniz caused Harry Maguire and Jonny Evans plenty of problems as he started his first Premier League game of the season.
The balance in midfield looks very good with Alex Iwobi alongside Joao Palhinha although the Portuguese was slightly unfortunate to be booked after a challenge with Fernandes.
However, Palhinha is one of the players who made an error in the build-up to the only goal of the game.
Antonee Robinson’s initial mistake allowed Facundo Pellestri to advance down the pitch and help set up Man United’s winner against Fulham.
The £2m defender was fantastic last season and has started this campaign well too.
But he will be disappointed with how the goal came about and after Fode Ballo-Toure impressed in midweek against Ipswich, Silva might be considering a change next week.
Robinson mistake against Man United costs Fulham
Speaking about yesterday’s goal, Keown said: “Well we talked about Keystone Cops didn’t we with David Moyes, but this is one here.
“[Antonee] Robinson, when the ball is in the air, he’s not comfortable. He’s got to attack that and win it.
“And here again, I think he’s just got to go to ground and put everything into the stand here and he doesn’t.”
It’s harsh to single out Robinson for Manchester United’s goal as plenty of his Fulham teammates could have prevented the ball from eventually falling to Fernandes.
Tim Ream and Joao Palhinha both panicked when trying to clear the ball and Sasa Lukic was too easily sold by a dummy from Fernandes.
Fulham aren’t ruthless enough in front of goal yet and therefore need to cut out any mistakes at the back if they’re going to earn any points.
Bringing in a striker in January has to be the priority and the club have reportedly already made a move for an in-form forward.
Until then, Silva needs to try and get one of his strikers to score and hope his defence can maintain their concentration for the full 90 minutes.
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