United close in on Arsenal; Nani shines; Queiroz praises “authority”

Fulham 0-3 Manchester United

Manchester United moved to within a point of Premiership leaders Arsenal with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

With Tuesday’s Champions League second leg tie with Lyon in mind, United boss Alex Ferguson took the opportunity to rest several players, with Ryan Giggs and Nemanja Vidic left out of the squad with minor knocks and Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and Anderson handed places on the bench.

United rarely looked in any trouble throughout, controlling the game from start to finish, although goalkeeper Edwin van Der Sar was called upon to make a couple of good stops during the afternoon.

Having already gone close through Louis Saha, the champions took the lead on the quarter-hour mark when Owen Hargreaves clipped a free-kick over the wall and into Anti Niemi’s right-hand post.

The decision by Ferguson to rest both Giggs and Ronaldo meant another start for summer recruit Nani, and the Portuguese again produced a solid performance.

Nani goes close

After shooting narrowly wide with a fierce effort from outside the box, Nani played Paul Scholes in on the right for the veteran midfielder to provide a perfect cross, which was headed in by Ji-Sung Park just before the break.

The second half was somewhat of a stroll for the Red Devils, but Ferguson was still eager to throw both Ronaldo and Rooney into the fray with twenty minutes to spare, before John O’Shea’s cross forced Simon Davies into an own goal to give the visitors a three-goal cushion.

Nani’s chances of starting against Lyon on Tuesday seemingly received a boost when he was taken off with fifteen minutes left to play, replaced by former Porto man Anderson as the strength of the champions squad was apparent.

After the match, United assistant Carlos Queiroz praised the side, telling the BBC: “I think the right word is authority. From the beginning we were very strong in all parts of the pitch and with a lot of discipline, hard work and especially with everybody knowing their roles and responsibilities, things became easier.”

Fulham:
Niemi, Stalteri, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Volz (Kamara 90), Johnson (Nevland 90), Bullard, Murphy (Smertin 64), Davies, McBride

Man Utd:
Van der Sar, Evra, Ferdinand, Brown, O'Shea, Nani (Anderson 75), Scholes, Hargreaves, Park, Tevez (Ronaldo 69), Saha (Rooney 69)

Goals:
[0-1] Hargreaves, 15
[0-2] Park, 44
[0-3] Davies, 72 (o.g.)