Manchester United Secure 1-0 Win Over Fulham in Premier League Opener

• Manchester United kicked off their Premier League campaign with a 1-0 victory over Fulham on Friday night.
• Joshua Zirkzee scored the winning goal on his debut after joining from Bologna.
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Manchester United’s new signing Joshua Zirkzee has spoken of his relief and elation after scoring the winning goal on his debut against Fulham on Friday night. The 23-year-old Dutch striker, who joined from Bologna for £36.5m, came off the bench to score the 87th-minute winner at Old Trafford.

“On debut, winning and scoring at the Stretford End is unbelievable,” Zirkzee said after the match. “This moment ranks right up there. It’s just a bit below winning the Champions League with Bayern Munich and my national team debut.”

Zirkzee’s goal was a precise finish past Bernd Leno, and the striker admitted it was a relief to get off the mark so quickly. “I’m not going to talk about myself like that (as a natural goalscorer) but it was a good touch,” he said with a smile.

Joshua Zirkzee celebrates his debut goal for Manchester United against Fulham

Zirkzee also hailed the impact of his Dutch idol and now assistant manager Ruud van Nistelrooy at United. “Some people might be crazy, but for me, this is the biggest club in the world, so it wasn’t a difficult choice (to come here),” he said. “It’s a privilege to have someone like that (Van Nistelrooy). As a striker, it’s not every day you have someone that you grew up watching, but everybody in the staff up to now has been great, and I enjoy working with these people a lot.”

Zirkzee was also full of praise for fellow debutant Noussair Mazraoui, who played 81 minutes before coming off for Matthijs de Ligt. “He arrived this week, and it’s not easy to come into a team and directly play the way he did,” Zirkzee said. “I think it all looked natural, and that was the most special part of his game.”

Zirkzee was full of praise for Noussair Mazraoui, who also made his debut on Friday

When asked about his personality away from football, Zirkzee said: “I don’t really do much. I have my dog, I take him for a walk, and sit in the house and watch a TV series, play PlayStation, or do whatever. At the moment, I’ve just finished The Umbrella Academy, and it wasn’t too good of an ending, but I enjoyed it, it was good.”

Manchester United will look to build on this win when they face their next opponent in the Premier League.