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26 February 2007, by Sean Gillen

Sensational Ronaldo fires United to crucial win

Fulham 1-2 Manchester United

Cristiano Ronaldo produced a sensational late winner as Manchester United earned an undeserved three points at Craven Cottage to stretch their lead at the top of the Premiership to nine points.

The league leaders appeared to be heading towards what would have been a slightly fortuitous draw against an impressive Fulham side, until the Portuguese scored a superb individual goal with less than three minutes remaining on the clock.

Ferguson: “Ronaldo was fantastic. He has such courage”


United failed to perform from the first whistle and showed signs of fatigue after their midweek match in France. Alexei Smertin and Simon Davies shot wide from the edge of the area and Diop tested van Der Sar in the first ten minutes as Fulham started brightly.

It was no surprise to see the hosts take the lead after a major defensive mistake from United. As Davies looked to latch on to a Brown throughball, a misunderstanding between Nemanja Vidic and goalkeeper van Der Sar saw the ball run free to Brian McBride, who slotted Fulham ahead in the 17th minute.

Ronaldo struggled to see much of the ball in the first half, although when he did take up possession he was far less wasteful than most of his team-mates. The former Sporting man offered United’s first real threat, breezing past Rosenior before firing across goal but narrowly missing the far post.

Clinical Giggs

United drew level, however, just before the half hour mark through captain Ryan Giggs. Rooney cut in from the left and drifted a well-weighted ball to the far post for the veteran Welshman to clinically volley the ball across Lastuvka into the corner of the net.

Both sides created chances during the remainder of the first period, with McBride heading into the side netting when well placed, and Patrice Evra wasting a good chance to give United the lead.

It could have been expected that United would have woken up after the break, but it was Fulham who grew in belief in the second half. Davies drew a fantastic stop from van Der Sar in the opening minutes, with his swift turn and shot matched by the Dutchman’s left-handed save.

Fulham continued to pile on the pressure as they looked to re-take the lead, and Brown’s cross from the right flank was headed onto the bar by Canadian Tomasz Radzinski. Davies and McBride both went close again for the hosts, but van Der Sar was in top form against his old club.

Ronaldo genius

Although Fulham had done most of the pressing in the second half, the final ten minutes saw strong pressure from United after manager Alex Ferguson threw on Louis Saha for Michael Carrick to give more attacking options.

The winning goal came in the 88th minute, and it was genius from Ronaldo. The 22-year-old received the ball on the left of the halfway line and skipped past two Fulham players on his way to the edge of the penalty area, before cutting inside and firing a low shot into the far corner.

The goal sparked wild celebrations on the touchline after Ronaldo raced over to celebrate the with the United substitutes, and it was clear how much the win meant to the players and staff at Old Trafford as they heap pressure on second place Chelsea in the title race.

Fulham:
Lastuvka, Volz, Rosenior, Christanval, Bocanegra, Smertin, Diop (Dempsey, 71), Brown, Davies, Radzinksi (John, 72), McBride (Helguson, 79)
Yellow Cards: Brown (24), Radzinski (41), Diop (54)

Manchester United:
van Der Sar, Brown, Evra (Silvestre, 67), Ferdinand, Vidic (O’Shea, 59), Carrick (Saha, 66), Scholes, Giggs, Ronaldo, Rooney, Larsson
Yellow Cards: Scholes

Goals:
[1-0] McBride, 17
[1-1] Giggs, 29
[1-2] Ronaldo, 88