Manchester United 3-0 Fulham Match Report

Source: Yolkie

Rated: 5/5 by Twitter followers

Wayne Rooney scores
Wayne Rooney continued his blistering goalscoring form with a double to send Manchester United back to the top of the Premier League with Dimitar Berbatov adding a third to round off an inspirational personal display.


The scoreline did not flatter the reigning Champions but that isn’t to say Fulham didn’t have their moments or that it was a procession – far from it. It was the Red Devils who fashioned the first opening, though, when neat one-two’s between Darren Fletcher and Berbatov led to the Scot caught in two minds when clean through.With the goal gaping and Rooney waiting, Fletcher unselfishly squared but Fulham’s defenders reacted quick to snuff out the opportunity.

There were, occasionally, moments of deliberation where indecision almost proved fatal – the first instance, with Neville giving the ball away, saw Clint Dempsey drive a long range shot just over the bar. United responded and Berbatov’s acrobatic volley from a corner was wide and just missed by Rooney who attempted to divert it. Midway through the first half Rooney had a decent shout for a penalty appeal after being manhandled by Stephen Kelly – United have seen one given against them, at Hull, in identical circumstances, but on this occasion no foul was given.

A feature of Rooney’s ascent to world stardom has been the way he channels what he believes to be wrong decisions against him into his personal desire to right them by letting his football do the talking instead of his mouth – by forcing Schwarzer into a smart stop on the half hour, and then seeing another chance deflected after nice build up with Berbatov, it was clear he was once again in the mood.The goalless first period was almost interrupted by Bobby Zamora – the forward has been in good form this season, and scored against United in December, but he failed to control his shot after a pass from perrenial United upsetter Danny Murphy played him through.

With 45 minutes played any pre-match observations that Fulham may be tiring after their midweek European exploits seemed to be wide of the mark – quite the opposite, in fact. Veteran manager Roy Hodgson would doubtless have drilled the importance of concentration and energy levels for both the trip to Turin and this encounter and his players did not let him down – but any thoughts that United,with the visit of Fulham posing something of an anti-climax after destroying Milan so wilfully in midweek, would suffer from complacency, took just 29 seconds of the restart to dispel. Picking up on a won header by Berbatov, Rooney played the ball wide to Nani. Nani’s delivery had been the most likely route to an opener as the winger has begun to settle into better form on the left hand side, and there could be no complaints about the accuracy and the timing of his release here, fizzing the ball through a small crowd of Fulham defenders back into the path of Rooney. Rooney, of course, needs no invitation and gratefully wrapped the ball into the back of the net.

In the 54th minute a Gary Neville cross caused all kinds of panic – Nani was unsure just what part of his body to use to send the ball towards goal, and when the ball rebounded to Rooney, he was unable to get any real conviction due to being slightly off balance. Aside from a spectacular volleyed effort by Rio Ferdinand that went just over, this was the closest United came to extending their lead until Fulham gave a reminder that with just a goal seperating them, they could yet throw an almighty spanner in their opponents title hopes.

A long ball through was deflected just enough to outfox both Ferdinand and Vidic who had otherwise been impenetrable, and suddenly Zamora found himself with time and space. Too much time and space, it seemed, as the England hopeful showed the lack of conviction that is probably the reason he won’t be heading to South Africa in the summer – nonetheless, Vidic’s recovery was sensational to snuff out any chance whatsoever.

It was enough to prompt United to up the ante – Park, on for Valencia who had been below par, showed excellent footwork before fizzing the ball in towards Berbatov, but the forward’s header was just wide. A minute later, Patrice Evra went on a mazy run and fired a right foot shot wide, and this was soon followed by Darren Fletcher working his own way through. Fletcher’s shot was on target, but Schwarzer’s reaction was superb. A second goal seemed inevitable, however, and it duly arrived with just over 5 minutes to go with more than just a touch of class. Michael Carrick’s brilliant searching pass sent Berbatov wide – with two defenders near him, it seemed a dead end, but Berbatov turned and beat them both for pace. Rooney had raced to join him in the middle, Berbatov’s pass was clean, Rooney’s shot was far from clean but went across goal comfortably beating Schwarzer. It was the England forward’s 32nd goal of the season.

United still found time to score again, with a goal almost identical in craft to the previous one. It was Rooney’s exceptional cross field pass this time, finding Park wide right. Park’s delivery was perfect, and Berbatov met it centrally to head in a richly deserved goal.

Sir Alex Ferguson may clearly prefer a 4-3-3 which is more effective in the bigger games, and as such Berbatov will probably find himself on the bench next weekend. However occasions such as these show that the frontman does have a part to play at Old Trafford in other games. Berbatov’s contribution was key; while at the back the importance of the mere presence of Ferdinand and Vidic was enough to instill an inherent confidence in the side, something notably absent the last time these two teams met. By selecting Fletcher and Carrick to start in midfield – both of whom were defensively deployed at Craven Cottage – Ferguson was perhaps unknowingly proving a point about the severity of the handicap that befell the Champions over the winter.

It is no coincidence that with his preferred central pairing Sir Alex has seen his team register 3 consecutive league clean sheets, and he will be hopeful that with something to prove they continue that stability next week, after last season’s abberation in the same fixture.

Ratings : van der Sar 6, Neville 7 (Fabio), Ferdinand 7, Vidic 7, Evra 8, Valencia 6 (Park 7), Fletcher 7, Carrick 8, Nani 8, *Berbatov 8, Rooney 8

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