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Manchester United were denied a penalty against Fulham at Old Trafford by VAR - only to score from the free-kick that was given instead.

The Red Devils are looking to make it three wins from three under Michael Carrick and thought they'd been given the chance to take the lead inside 20 minutes when the referee, John Brooks, pointed to the spot. Matheus Cunha went down under a challenge from Jorge Cuenca.

The Fulham defender went to ground and was penalised, but replays quickly showed that Cuenca had got the ball before taking the man to ground. He and his team-mates protested and VAR was quick to jump in and reviewed the incident.

It was then fed into the official that Cuenca hadn't committed a foul in the box, but they did go back and penalise the Fulham star for a tug on the shirt, but that offence began outside the area.

The referee announced inside the stadium: “After review, the Fulham 15 commits a holding offence outside the penalty area. The final decision is a free kick to Manchester United.”

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From the resulting free-kick Bruno Fernandes hoisted a delivery into the box, with Casemiro rising highest to head home and give the Manchester outfit the ideal start. Marco Silva was booked for his protests with his side needing to come from behind.

Silva has been among the names loosely linked with the job at Old Trafford, which will become vacant in the summer. He is out of contract at Fulham and may consider a fresh challenge. But the role at United could yet go to Carrick if he continues with his blistering start.

Before the contest United supporters had been protesting outside the ground, taking aim at the Glazers and Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Two marches - one from the Hotel Football end of the ground and one from the top of Sir Matt Busby Way - converged at The Trinity statue on the forecourt of Old Trafford.

The turnout wasn't as big as previous protests, but still involved a few thousand supporters. Carrick was also confident that it wasn't going to impact on his players, who are on a roll having beaten Manchester City and Liverpool over the past fortnight.

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