Man United secure late EPL win at Fulham

For Erik ten Hag, the goal that sent Manchester United into the World Cup break on a high note is the perfect symbol of the progress his team has made in recent months.

In the last Premier League game before the tournament in Qatar, substitute Alejandro Garnacho came off the bench to score a stoppage-time winner that secured a 2-1 victory at Fulham on Sunday.

Despite a poor start under Ten Hag, with United losing their first two games, the team is now three points off fourth-placed Tottenham with a game in hand.

And the football is improving, too, despite being without a number of starters - including Cristiano Ronaldo, who missed a second straight game with an undisclosed illness but is expected to be fit for the World Cup.

"We have a base. We're going in the right direction, the culture has changed," Ten Hag said.

"The attitude, the mentality has changed and that's good. Also now we improve our football base.

"We have got a better mentality and (what) you see today is the symbol of it - when you get the win in the last dying seconds of the game."

The goal was also quite a statement by Garnacho, who has been criticised in the past for his attitude in training but showed his sublime talent by playing a clever one-two with Christian Eriksen on the edge of the box before running into the area to slot home past Bernd Leno just before the final whistle.

"We have seen in training that he is a big, big talent," Eriksen said.

"He is starting to learn the movement of the game - when to dribble, when to pass but he's a big talent."

Eriksen had put United ahead after 14 minutes following a well-worked quick break; the Denmark international on hand at the far post to steer a deflected shot by Bruno Fernandes into the empty net.