Source: Telegraph
Manchester United 3 Fulham 0: match report
Wayne Rooney showed just why Real Madrid are 'obsessed' with signing him from Manchester United scoring twice against Fulham as the champions reclaimed top spot in the Premier League. [LNB]Rooney's double and a late Dimitar Berbatov header sealed victory against the Londoners at Old Trafford. And Rooney, whose stunning season has made him Real's top target according to former president Ramon Calderon, extending his incredible scoring run to lift United above Chelsea and Arsenal in the league table. [LNB] Related ArticlesSunderland 1 Manchester City 1Premier League actionPremier League tableTelegraph player raterPremier League fixturesSport on televisionUnited's 3-0 defeat at Craven Cottage in December marked the low-point of their Premier League campaign on a day when, such were the injury problems facing Sir Alex Ferguson, the champions fielded a back four of Darren Fletcher, Michael Carrick, Ritchie de Laet and Patrice Evra. [LNB]At that stage, the picture looked bleak for United, but the upsurge since that pre-Christmas humiliation in west London has been marked. Prior to this game, Ferguson's players had collected 26 points from a possible 33 since losing at Fulham. [LNB]With Chelsea and Arsenal climbing above United following victories on Saturday, however, restoring their two-point lead over London's big two with a win against Roy Hodgson's team was anything but a foregone conclusion. [LNB]Fulham, perhaps drained by their 3-1 Europa League defeat against Juventus in Turin on Thursday, were chasing their third successive league win against United a feat only achieved by Arsenal, Liverpool and West Ham since the inception of the Premier League in 1992. [LNB]United have the scent of a record-breaking 19th league title in their nostrils, however, and Ferguson's programme notes, calling for his team to win each of their remaining nine fixtures, were duly noted by his players, who should have racked up a match-winning lead by half-time. [LNB]The slick, flowing football that overcame AC Milan in midweek was repeated against Fulham, but the finishing touch was not quite so clinical. Rooney was the first to let Fulham off the hook when he fluffed a chance from six yards on ten minutes having been teed up by an unselfish pass from Darren Fletcher. [LNB]The England forward seemed surprised to receive the ball from Fletcher and the shock was enough to distract him just long enough for goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer to smother the ball. [LNB]Ten minutes later, Dimitar Berbatov directed a scissor-kick wide of goal, before Rooney forced Schwarzer into a fine save with a powerful shot from 20 yards. [LNB]Fulham were content to smother United with up to nine men dropping behind the ball when the home side poured forward. But Bobby Zamora almost gave the visitors the lead on 38 minutes when he raced onto Danny Murphy's pass forward before stretching to direct a volley over Edwin van der Sar's crossbar. [LNB]It was a rare moment of concern for United, but while the scoreline remained level, the threat of falling behind continued to hang over Ferguson's team. They simply had to raise their game in the second-half, but Rooney made life so much easier by scoring the opening goal just 20 seconds after the restart. [LNB]Fulham barely touched the ball before Rooney laid it off to Nani and burst into the penalty area to claim the return ball, which he sidefooted into the far corner past Schwarzer. [LNB]Another game, another goal, but there was more to come from the 24-year-old. United had to survive another Zamora scare on 75 minutes when Nemanja Vidic produced a crucial tackle to thwart the forward, but there was only going to be one winner and Rooney confirmed United's victory by making it 2-0 on 84 minutes. [LNB]Berbatov, impressive in a rare start alongside Rooney, crossed for his strike partner to score at the near post to take his season tally to 32 goals. It also made it 17 goals since the turn of the year and 23 in his last 21 games. He now has ten goals to go before he equals the 2008 tally of 42 set by Cristiano Ronaldo. [LNB]But while Rooney will take the headlines again, Berbatov's performance was worthy of mention and the Bulgarian scored the goal he deserved with a diving header from Ji-Sung Park's 89th minute cross. [LNB]v [LNB]
