United self-destruct, Fulham blow title race wide open

Danny Murphy and Zoltan Gera struck to hand Fulham a shock win over nine-man Manchester United and throw open the Premier League title race.

Sir Alex Ferguson’s league leaders followed last weekend’s defeat to Liverpool with a second successive reverse that opened the door for Chelsea and Liverpool to close the gap at the head of the table.

And to make a miserable afternoon even worse, Ferguson was forced to watch as Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were dismissed, ruling them out of crucial games in the final run-in.

The week-long post-mortem that followed last weekend’s jarring 4-1 defeat had been centred on the impact it might possibly have on United’s poise during the run-in.

Prior to that reverse, Ferguson’s side had been cruising towards a third successive title, destroying any hopes the chasing pack may have had with a formidable run of eleven successive league victories.

But the nature of Liverpool’s victory suddenly punctured United’s air of invincibility.

And judging by this shocking display at Craven Cottage, it has deflated the swaggering self-belief that had previously been a hallmark of the reigning champions’ campaign.

Having looked alarmingly fragile at the back seven days earlier, United showed no signs of having resolved the defensive problems that had allowed Liverpool to beat Edwin van der Sar four times.

Nemanja Vidic – last weekend’s guiltiest culprit – was absent following his sending off against Rafael Benitez’s side, and without the normally reliable Serb the visitors looked vulnerable to almost every early Fulham attack.

Not that the defence was given much protection by a midfield that was constantly caught in possession and seemed incapable of picking out the simplest of passes.

Credit must go to Fulham for their direct approach, with the lively forwards Andrew Johnson, Bobby Zamora and Clint Dempsey stretching the United back-line to provide ready targets for steady service delivered from midfield.

The alarm bells should have been ringing for Ferguson’s side just two minutes into the game when Dempsey found space inside the box and fired wide of Van der Sar’s near post from a narrow angle.

United briefly looked as though they might respond when Dimitar Berbatov headed over four minutes later – but astonishingly that turned out to be the visitors’ only real chance of a one-sided opening half.

Instead it was the Fulham strikers who repeatedly found space between United’s back-pedalling back four, forcing Van der Sar into a succession of excellent saves that prevented the home side taking more convincing control of the game.

There was little the Dutch keeper could do, however, about Murphy’s 17th-minute penalty that gave Fulham a deserved lead.

Zamora may lack pace but his presence had already unsettled Ferguson’s side before he rose to meet Simon Davies’s corner and saw his header palmed away by Van der Sar.

The ball came back to Zamora whose second effort was goal-bound until Scholes turned goalkeeper to concede the spot-kick and earn a red card.

Once again reduced to ten men, it was clear that this would be a stern test of United’s character but the remainder of the first half offered few signs that they were capable of clawing their way back into the game.

Ferguson’s stern glare as he left the pitch at half-time suggested he had seen more than enough and it was no surprise when the ineffectual Berbatov was replaced at half-time by Rooney.

Rooney’s omission from the starting line-up had been a surprise and the England forward immediately gave United a more meaningful attacking threat.

But although the visitors managed to carve out some presentable chances, Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer pulled off a string of outstanding saves to deny Cristiano Ronaldo, Park Ji-Sung and Rooney.

And when Ferguson’s side were launching a series of desperate late attacks, Gera broke and exchanged passes with Johnson before finishing with an acrobatic volley.

Then, to cap a shocking afternoon for the champions, Rooney gestured in frustration at referee Phil Dowd, earning himself a second yellow card and ensuring United finished the game with nine men.