Fulham and Manchester United shared the points at Craven Cottage on Sunday, finishing level at one goal each in a Premier League contest that left both managers with more questions than answers.

Fulham, who began the day at the bottom of the table, went in front through a stroke of misfortune for the visitors. Nigeria international, Calvin Bassey’s effort was parried by Senne Lammens straight back into a dangerous area, and Lisandro Martínez, trying to clear the danger, only succeeded in steering the ball into his own net.

Álvaro Arbeloa’s young side played with real bravery on the ball and kept looking for a second, while United struggled to find any rhythm.

United searched for a way back, with Bryan Mbeumo and Diogo Dalot both trying their luck without seriously troubling Bernd Leno, before the equaliser arrived from an unlikely source in the 89th minute. Substitute Patrick Dorgu rolled a square pass to Matheus Cunha, whose hopeful shot from outside the box struck the outstretched boot of Fulham’s Larsson, changed direction and left Leno stranded. It was a scruffy goal, but Michael Carrick will not care how it looked.

The result keeps Fulham winless under Arbeloa, though a second consecutive draw after their goalless stalemate at Liverpool will encourage a club that has played better than its points return suggests.

They now have two points from five games. United move to five points from the same number of matches, with one win, two draws and two defeats. They are now without a win in three across all competitions after the Manchester derby defeat and the Carabao Cup collapse against Brighton. Carrick will take the point, but with the international break arriving, his side’s difficult start is far from fixed.