Fulham 0 - 3 Manchester United

Fulham 0-3 Man Utd: Stroll in the Park for United

Updated: March 1, 2008, 5:44 PM UK

Manchester United returned to the top of the Premier League with a stylish 3-0 victory at Craven Cottage, where they required the presence of such luminaries as Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo for only the last 20 minutes.

They also missed the injured Nemanja Vidic, from their cast-iron defence, and Ryan Giggs, with a knee injury. No doubt Sir Alex Ferguson had Tuesday's Champions League second leg with Lyon in mind.

But the major bonus for United was Arsenal's failure to win at home against Aston Villa.

• Fergie predicts tight run-in

Despite resting so many stars, United made light of what Fulham tried to turn into a carnival occasion and by half-time they were cruising thanks to Owen Hargreaves' first goal for the club - a superbly-executed free-kick - and a rare header from South Korean Park Ji-Sung.

United eased off the gas after the break but were presented with a third goal by Fulham's Simon Davies, who toe-ended John O'Shea's cross through the legs of his own goalkeeper Antti Niemi soon after the appearance of Rooney, Ronaldo and Anderson.

For Fulham, with just three wins this season, it was an extra punishment they did not deserve. But even manager Roy Hodgson must admit now that their survival battle is nearly over.

There could have many more goals and the overriding emotion among neutrals would have been sympathy for Fulham, who were massively outgunned despite all their sweat and tears.

They appear to be facing mission impossible, but the old Cottage was a glorious sight on a sunlit afternoon, awash with placards and banners in support of the home side despite their relegation worries.

As expected, though, United dominated the early possession, stringing passes together and having the first shot inside three minutes when Louis Saha chested on Park's right-wing cross for Nani to drill into the chest of Niemi.

Two minutes later Saha, facing his old club in his first start for two months, was galloping through the middle again onto a long free-kick from Paul Scholes but unaccountably skewed his shot wide from 14 yards.

Niemi soon had to get down to a low drive by Carlos Tevez, with Paul Konchesky scooping away the loose ball.

Then, from nowhere, new American striker Eddie Johnson, in his orange boots, battled down the right to send in a half-cleared cross for Fulham and Danny Murphy powered in a shot from 25 yards which Edwin van der Sar, another former Fulham favourite, had to juggle around his right-hand post.

It was a clear warning to United that complacency might not be their only enemy.

But normality returned as Scholes had a goalbound shot blocked by Aaron Hughes as United poured forward again in the 14th minute.

And when seconds later Tevez won a dubious free-kick inches outside the area after falling over a challenge by Brede Hangeland, it was Hargreaves who stepped up to place it perfectly over the wall and wide of Niemi's reach.

Niemi's flying saves kept out Scholes' shot which appeared to be creeping inside a post and after Murphy tested van der Sar again with a half-volley following Jimmy Bullard's free-kick for a foul by Wes Brown, it was Scholes again who chested Patrice Evra's cross past a post.

But Fulham could not keep the red tide at bay for ever and they opened up again in first-half stoppage time when Park was granted the freedom of the penalty area to head in a Scholes cross after a neat link-up between Tevez and Nani.

Fulham deserved great credit for their pluck and they had a good share of possession as United began to ease off, but it seemed the height of cruelty to send on both Ronaldo and Rooney late on.

Even so it was a Fulham player who scored United's third. Davies, just back from a one-match ban, stuck out a boot running towards his own goal and jabbed O'Shea's cross between the legs of Niemi.

Fergie predicts tight run-in

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson predicted a 'fantastic run-in' to the Barclays Premier League title race after his patched-up team closed to within one point of leaders Arsenal with a 3-0 win over Fulham at Craven Cottage.

Arsenal saved defeat against Aston Villa at the Emirates Stadium with a stoppage-time equaliser by Nicklas Bendtner and Ferguson remarked: 'I see it was the 95th minute of their usual seven minutes' injury time.'

Ferguson said: 'It's been a bit of a see-saw and now it is down to one point but Chelsea are still right on our coat-tails. It looks as if it is going to be a fantastic run-in.

'I didn't think it was a great game at Fulham. It was a very windy day and a lively pitch but I think we did the job very professionally.

'We switched the team around and gave Rooney and Ronaldo a break. So it is a good day for us.

'You've got to have faith in your squad. You've got to trust your players. That's why we've brought them here. Look at the ones we've left out. Carrick, Giggs and Vidic would get a game for any team. They are all top players.

'Fulham played well but were not a threat in the box. The one thing with them was they always kept pushing and pressing the ball. They made a couple of chances, you know.'

But Fulham boss Hodgson was still almost wildly optimistic about his team's chances of dodging relegation - despite admitting they still probably need five wins from their last 10 matches having won only three of the first 28.

He said: 'I don't think five wins is an impossible task, It's a big task but not impossible.

'Manchester United have a wealth of talent. Three-nil sounds as though we've been totally outplayed but I don't think that was the case. We were not outclassed.

'For me it is simply back to work but not back to the drawing board because a lot of our football shows a lot of promise.

'We must try to keep people's heads up and attack these last 10 games. I knew it would be very tough when I came here. I'd done my research but I've been very pleased with the response I've had from the players, the way they have approached the task.

'I'm sad but not downhearted.'