Man Utd finish off Fulham

Manchester United defeated Fulham 3-0 on Saturday afternoon - even with Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo on the bench. United ran riot and have moved within a point of Arsenal on top of the league.

In the 5th minute, Red Devils midfielder Paul Scholes sent a long ball to front-man Louis Saha but the Frenchman faltered at the finish, shooting wide from close range.

The 15th minute gave United their reward in the form of a goal, for the tremendous pressure they exerted.

Owen Hargreaves skilfully curled the ball into the rival net from a free kick from the top of the 18-yard box. The English international finally scored his first goal in the Premiership.

United’s attack continued while the Cottagers tried to build up on counter attacks but some how their moves were kept in check by either Van der Sar or United’s rock solid defence.

Right at the 45th-minute mark, the Reds consolidated their lead through Ji-Sung Park who boosted his confidence by heading home Scholes’ perfect cross from the right channel.

In the second half, Fulham came back strongly eager to get something out of the match.

However despite their attempts at goal, defender Hughes sent a back pass to his keeper not realising that Louis Saha was lurking in the close vicinity. However they were lucky as the keeper managed to beat Saha to the ball.

It looked like Sir Alex Ferguson was not content with the two goal advantage his side had over their rivals as he brought in Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo in the 70 minute of play in place of Carlos Tevez and Louis Saha.

Just as expected United went further up by a goal when John O’Shea made a dangerous run into the Fulham box where his strike made its way past the keeper into the nets after some deflection by Simon Davies.

Teams

Fulham: Niemi, Stalteri, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Volz (Kamara 90), Johnson (Nevland 90), Bullard, Murphy (Smertin 64), Davies, McBride. Subs Not Used: Keller, Bocanegra.

Man Utd: Van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Brown, O'Shea, Nani (Anderson 75), Scholes, Hargreaves, Park, Tevez (Ronaldo 69), Saha (Rooney 69). Subs Not Used: Kuszczak, Pique. Goals: Hargreaves 15, Park 44, Davies 72 og.