Wayne Rooney scored a brace as Manchester United moved back to the top of the Premier League table with a 3-0 win over Fulham.
United outclass Fulham to reclaim top spot
Manchester United went back to the top of the Premier League with a 3-0 win over Fulham at Old Trafford.
It was no more than the defending Premier League champions deserved, having completely outclassed the Cottagers throughout the match.
After a goalless first half, it took Wayne Rooney just 30 seconds from the restart whistle to stamp his mark on the game.
A header down from Dimitar Berbatov fell to Rooney, who initially moved the ball wide to Nani before picking up again and hitting a powerful, low shot past a dumbfounded Mark Schwarzer.
Fulham had done well to hold him at bay until then but they were powerless as the match progressed.
The England striker notched his second late in the game, having again been set up nicely by his strike partner.
Not to be outdone, Berbatov made it 3-0 in stoppage time with a diving header to send United back to top spot.
It has come to that stage in the season where every round of fixtures bring their own pressure.
And, on the occasion chosen to mark Old Trafford's 100th birthday, it was United, needing to follow Chelsea and Arsenal, who after initial struggles had ended up with three points on Saturday.
On the face of it, a Fulham side in the middle of a titanic Europa League tie with Juventus would appear to be the perfect opponents.
Yet, as Sir Alex Ferguson pointed out in the build-up, Roy Hodgson has revolutionised life at Craven Cottage and masterminded a three-goal victory over these same opponents in December.
At the time, United were severely weakened by a loss of defenders.
Special occasion
With Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic back those problems are now at an end. On this occasion, it was United's attack that misfired.
The hosts had plenty of possession and got into the right areas often enough. But at some stage, all their first-half attacks broke down.
Only twice could the Fulham defence take complete credit.
A collective effort ensured Rooney did not profit when Darren Fletcher elected to square the ball after charging into the box to reach Berbatov's return pass.
Schwarzer denied Rooney later in the half with a fabulous one-handed save after the England man had curled a shot goalwards from 20 yards.
Restored to the starting line-up after missing the midweek demolition of AC Milan, Berbatov had no-one to blame but himself for failing to convert his best chances, both of which were headers.
True, that part of the game is not the Bulgarian's strong point but, after finding space deep inside the Fulham box, he should have done better after being picked out by Antonio Valencia and Nani, respectively.
Rooney was grumbling at half-time after being hauled down by Stephen Kelly without winning a penalty. He was all smiles 30 seconds after the restart though.
A scrappy build-up saw Berbatov nod the ball into his strike partner's path.
Rooney then fed Nani before advancing into the big hole Fulham's disorientated defence had left.
Once Nani delivered the return pass back into exactly the same area, the outcome was inevitable.
With the home side in front, so was the result. Anxiety remained, though, as long as the wait for a second continued.
Rooney and Berbatov both failed to profit from decent half chances, in the latter man's case an acrobatic volley from Valencia's cross that flew narrowly wide.
At least they could claim to have got somewhere near the
