In a match where everybody expected Manchester United to come out with three important points, the Red Devils were held by a Fulham side who sit bottom of the table.

It looked more of a mismatch with the quality of players Manchester United had in their starting line-up against a struggling Premier League side who are currently trying to avoid the relegation zone. Robin Van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Juan Mata all lined up to start the match, but it was Fulham’s Steve Sidwell who shocked the reigning champions with a 19th minute goal after a sublime chip into the box from Lewis Holtby.

United struggled to break down a resolute Fulham side for long spells, and they were staring down the barrel of a ninth league defeat of the season at one stage as goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg excelled.

Manchester United definitely dominated the possession in the match and were looking too desperate to score, at times, but it was Fulham defenders Dan Burn and Johnny Heitinga who were preventing — what is on paper — one of the best attacking threats in the Premier League from scoring. It was a match where crosses flew in from both wings, but those crosses could be best summed up in two tweets:

However, Manchester United finally broke through. It was talisman Robin Van Persie who swept in Juan Mata’s attempted shot from three yards at the far post in the 78th minute and, less than two minutes later, Carrick’s deflected strike from outside the penalty area that sailed into the top corner of the net, which was celebrated emphatically by David Moyes. It seemed that Manchester United had achieved one of those late comebacks that former manager Sir Alex Ferguson was famous for. But in the dying minutes, it was Fulham striker Darren Bent who spoiled the party by scoring an equalizer in injury time to deal another crippling blow to David Moyes’s season.

During the match, former Manchester United assistant manager Rene Meulensteen gave new signings John Heitinga and Ryan Tunnicliffe their first Fulham debuts while 18-year-old forward Muamer Tankovic made his first Premier League start. While on the other side it was Nemanja Vidic who, after announcing he will quit Manchester United at the end of the season, returned from a three match suspension to captain the Red Devils.

This result surely gives David Moyes many questions to contemplate considering that even with almost all of the star player and first squad players available, he is not able to deliver victory against the weakest side in the league at Old Trafford. If he can’t beat Fulham, how will he be able to manage when Manchester United travel to the Emirates Stadium to face Arsenal, and to Greece to face the Greek Champions Olympiacos in their Champions League draw at the end of the month?

Here are the highlights from the match. Due to rights restrictions, the video can only be viewed by readers in the United States: