Manchester United’s torrid week got worse before it got marginally better.

A calamitous own goal from Lisandro Martínez with 23 minutes remaining left them scrambling for anything to salvage from the match, the latest blow in a stretch that already included a Carabao Cup exit at home to Brighton midweek and a derby defeat to City last weekend.

A fortunate deflection off David Affengruber ultimately rescued a point, but it did little to mask the bigger picture: United remain in the bottom half of the table after five games, ten points off leaders and neighbours City, and looking nowhere close to the level needed to compete at the top this season.

It’s their joint-worst start to a Premier League campaign.

The move began with Fulham’s Calvin Bassey muscling Cunha off the ball before firing a shot that goalkeeper Senne Lammens could only parry.

Martínez, trying to clear the danger, instead stuck out a boot and turned it into his own net, with Lammens’ fumbled attempt to intervene only adding to the chaos.

But for Neville, the goal itself wasn’t even the main concern. It was what came before it. He described United’s flat, aimless spell in possession ahead of the opener as “the worst 15 minutes I have ever seen Manchester United play.”

Things could have looked very different. Bruno Fernandes struck the post from a inviting Cunha cutback in the first half, and Cunha himself saw a heavily deflected effort come back off the woodwork rather than in.

Fulham keeper Bernd Leno, for his part, produced a string of full-stretch saves to keep United at bay.