Manchester United manager David Moyes said conceding an injury-time equaliser to Fulham was ‘as bad as it gets’ as his side failed to win for the 13th time in 25 league games.
United fought back from a goal down to lead 2-1 with just ten minutes remaining before Bent struck in the fourth minute of injury time.
The champions had 31 attempts to just six from Fulham and Moyes feels United should have got all three points.
“We should have won it but lapses cost us,” Moyes told SkySports.
“We tried everything to try and win – we crossed it, passed it, tried to get through – but we just didn’t quite have the finishing touches.
“We deserved to win the game but you don’t always get what you deserve.”
Fulham, led by former United assistant René Meulensteen, started the match with plenty of men behind the ball, looking to hit the Reds on the counter attack.
United clearly struggled in the early exchanges, so much so that former United legend Gary Neville claimed his old team-mates were just waiting to be beat.
It didn’t take long for Fulham to take the lead, Steve Sidwell strolled into space to slot past David De Gea and put the visitors in front after 19 minutes.
Former United winger Kieran Richardson missed a glorious chance to put the visitors 2-0 up, but David Moyes’ men managed to stagger to half-time with just the one goal deficit.
United did up the tempo in the second half, but a lack of real quality meant the champions struggled to get themselves on level terms.
The match did tilt in United’s favour when fan-favourite Adnan Januzaj entered the pitch, which gave the side a much-needed boost of quality and enthusiasm.
As much as United huffed and puffed they could not break through until the 79th minute when Robin van Persie equalised from close range.
Just two minutes later Old Trafford erupted as Michael Carrick’s deflected shot gave United the lead.
It appeared as though David Moyes had been spared of his blushes, until substitute Darren Bent heaped more misery onto the United boss by scoring from close range four minutes into added time.
By the time the final whistle was blown, United had launched an incredible 81 crosses into the box, a Premier League record since Opta starting recording the statistics.
Despite the return of Robin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and new boy Juan Mata, United were almost devoid of any real quality all afternoon.
Moyes felt it was justice his side got back into the game but regrets conceding yet another late goal.
“It has been quite often here at Old Trafford, when we haven’t got the goal, we have then maybe lost a goal and ended up chasing the game,” Moyes said.
“If we hadn’t got back into the game then there would have been something up because we totally deserved it.”
The draw, on the back of Liverpool’s thrashing of Arsenal on Saturday, leaves United trailing their rivals by nine points in the race for fourth.
Former United assistant manager Mike Phelan believes this setback is a big blow for the Red Devils.
“To say that was disappointing would be an understatement, it is more devastating than anything else,” Phelan told SkySports.
“You can harp on and on about possession but in reality that is not always what the game is about.
“Manchester United should be winning football matches with all those attempts on goal – the quality was just not there.”
Image courtesy of SkySports, via YouTube with thanks.
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