A low cross from the right and a poke with the left foot from a new signing. In an instant a game was won and an evening transformed. Welcome to Manchester United Joshua Zirkee.

For 87 minutes this had been another United performance taken from the vaults of last season. Some light and some shade but nothing that had been consistently impressive or good enough. Manager Erik ten Hag had said his team were not ready for the new season and he was in danger of being proved right. A draw here and the mood music of last season would have been back.

But if United's newly assembled football department have tried to do one thing this summer it has been to add depth to Ten Hag's squad. Zirkee is a 23-year-old Dutch forward signed from Bologna and though he started the night among the substitutes here, he emerged to deliver the kind of impact we all dream about as schoolkids.

United hadn't been terrible before that. Not at all. They had been denied on a few occasions by Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Bruno Fernandes twice in the first half. Mason Mount early in the second.

Equally, they had not been able to find the fluency and control needed to roll over a Fulham team that had come to Manchester sensing opportunity.

Joshua Zirkzee scored on his Manchester United debut to secure a 1-0 victory over Fulham

Indeed United had faded noticeably as the second half had worn on. Fulham had been threatening. There were some nerves about this famous old stadium as Fulham created and then wasted a couple of very good situations on the break.

But when another substitute Alejandro Garnacho crossed low and hopeful with three minutes to go, Zirkee applied a subtle and rather perfect contact to the ball to guide it across Leno and in to the far corner at the Stretford End.

Momentarily, there was a pause. The ball had entered the net rather slowly. But as realisation dawned players from both teams fell to their knees. Zirkee had won the game with a moment of genuine calmness and quality and both teams knew it. As he prepared to leave the field after the final whistle, Zirkee fell into an embrace with a former Dutch forward of note, United's assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy. Game knows game, as they say.

So United and Ten Hag have a victory to begin their season and as much as the manager likes to convey a sense of calm, he will know exactly what this means. His team go to Brighton next Saturday lunchtime and that engagement will already feel a little less daunting.

Here his squad had some new faces, some old ones who may not have that much time left at the club and also some seeking to make the most of fresh starts. Marcus Rashford and Mason Mount fell in to that latter category even though another who would have hoped to be here was not. 

Jadon Sancho, said to have made up with Ten Hag after last season's unpleasantness, was not in the squad. 

For the first 20 minutes or so, Fulham were the better team. They enjoyed the possession, had the better shape and created a couple of decent chances. United, once again, were forced to play largely on the counter.

The Fulham winger Adama Traore got away down the right a couple of times and also drove a shot over. Centre forward Rodrigo Muniz then headed down and into traffic from a corner. In the 13th minute, meanwhile, Kenny Tete made ground upfield to bring a super save from Andre Onana with a curling shot from 25 yards.

United looked vulnerable and flawed. When they tried to press Fulham in possession, they failed to do so as a unit. As a result they were far too easy to play through. But they did improve to have a really good 20 minutes before half-time and Fernandes should have scored twice in the space of six minutes.

Fulham goalkeeper Leno gave the ball away to a rather lean looking Casemiro in the 29th minute and redeemed himself by saving from United captain Fernandes with his body. Then, soon after, Casemiro played a stunning first time to pass to free Fernandes again and this time Leno saved with his left leg.

United appeared to have located the key to the Fulham door, if not quite the lock. Early in the second half, Fernandes – playing as a false nine – dropped deep to release Rashford and when he fed Mount on his inside, Leno once again proved too tough to beat.

Ten Hag's team were poised and Old Trafford seemed primed to cheer them through the tape. Zirkee and Garnacho were sent on in the 60th minute and that seemed a smart play. But then United lost their purpose and momentum once again. 

For much of the remainder of the night Fulham looked the more likely scorers. Casemiro had been prominent during his team's better spells but faded. 

Once again United lacked control and Fulham could have led but for poor decision making on the counter. 

Andreas Pereira – once of United – criminally wasted a chance to put Alex Iwobi clear and then a dash from Traore allowed Pereira to cross and United defender Lisandro Martinez cleared from under the shadow of his own crossbar. 

This hadn't been a game awash with quality but it was no less engrossing for it. In added time, Garnacho steered wide of an open goal in almost comical fashion. 

On this occasion only pride was lost. There always seems to be an element of jeopardy when United play and that makes them watchable, if sometimes for the wrong reasons. 

We would expect them to improve from here. They do have a deeper squad. 

But questions will remain until we start to see discernible patterns of football and a clear sign of how Ten Hag really intends to play. 

Here they looked different in some ways but also rather recognisable. They have a new hero for a week, though, and for now they will take it.