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Man United 1-0 Fulham (FT)
Good evening and welcome to our liveblog. Can United take advantage of City’s slip at the weekend? We’re about to find out.
Here’s how the teams line up tonight:
Man Utd: De Gea, Evra, Ferdinand, Evans, Rafael, Carrick, Giggs, Valencia, Rooney, Young, Welbeck.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Kelly, JA Riise, Hangeland, Hughes, Diarra, Dempsey, Pogrebnyak, Duff, Frei, Dembele.
Deary me! Cliché alert. Alex Ferguson has told Sky that United will “take each game as it comes”.
He also says Paul Scholes’ form of late has been “magnificent,” but explains he opted to go for Giggs, as the veteran winger is more “fresh” at the moment, having missed some games recently.
Speaking of United, a certain famous Frenchman who used to play for them has just given a typically eccentric interview to Sky News. Football and acting are “the same” apparently:
YouTube credit: skynews
And we’re off…
The game has begun rather predictably, with United pressing and Fulham keeping every player in their own half whenever the hosts have the ball.
Ireland’s Damien Duff has started the game on the right-hand side of midfield, interestingly.
“Sometimes you came here and just wanted to keep the keep the score down” – Sky’s co-commentator Matt Le Tissier recalls his Southampton days in typically honest fashion.
Ryan Giggs, United’s token old man for the night (Scholes is on the bench), has just registered his side’s first effort on target, heading it straight at Schwarzer.
United have had a lot of possession so far, without managing to carve out a clear-cut chance as of yet.
And speaking of Giggs…
Dembele does reall well to skip past Carrick, before producing a woeful shot that goes well wide.
Some people have claimed the promising Belgian youngster is not quite the finished article just yet, and that incident illustrates why.
After a slow start, Fulham are coming into this game more and more and look like they could pose United some serious problems.
Dempsey has just hit a shot that De Gea does well to hold onto.
In saying that, Martin Jol has never beaten Alex Ferguson during his managerial clear, and United have never lost on a Monday night in 23 games (h/t @walsh_i), so the omens aren’t exactly great for the visitors.
United are still constantly forcing Fulham to defend deep and in numbers, but so far lack the necessary ingenuity to open them up.
If this pattern to the game continues, expect to see Paul Scholes sooner rather than later.
Patrice Evra has just attempted to execute a Wayne Rooney-esque bicycle kick, but his effort goes just wide. He’s clearly no Sebastian Coates.
GOAL FOR MAN UNITED!
Riise fails to deal with a Young cross, and the ball falls to Evans, who pulls it back across the area to Rooney, and the England international smashes the ball home from close range.
While not exactly against the run of play, it’s not as if that goal has been inevitable either.
Pogrebnyak gets a sight at the United goal, but dwells on the ball for too long, and his eventual shot is subsequently blocked and cleared away.
HALF-TIME: MAN UNITED 1-0 FULHAM
So far, it’s been a typical end-of-season performance from United. Without setting the world alight, Alex Ferguson’s side are just about getting the job done.
Fulham, though, have continued to look threatening on the counter-attack even after United scored, so it would be foolish to write them off at this stage.
Don’t we all…
Sky’s Gary Neville believes Fulham “need more belief” when attacking.
The second half is underway, and immediately De Gea does well to gather a dangerous cross from Kelly.
Valencia accelerates away from the Fulham defence, but Schwarzer makes a good save, parrying his powerful shot out for a corner.
With Ferguson’s words probably still ringing in their ears from half-time, United have started the second half well and are looking the far more likely of the two sides to score.
Excellent effort from Young, whose curling shot from just outside the box is kept out by the fingertips of Schwarzer.
Fulham look vulnerable. Time for a tactical alteration perhaps?
In other news…
Fulham make a rare foray into the United half, but the home side get numbers back to stifle the danger.
Martin Jol’s men don’t really look capable of scoring at the moment. United’s dominance is epitomised by the statistic which shows that they have 70% possession. Still only 1-0 though.
MAN UNITED SUBSTITUTION: Hernandez replaces the ineffectual Welbeck.
United are looking less dangerous now, and have reverted back to the auto-pilot mode that they consistently demonstrated throughout the first half.
Can Fulham capitalise on the hosts’ lax approach to this game?
FULHAM SUBSTITUTION: Frei is replaced by Ruiz.
FULHAM SUBSTITUTION: Man United’s past tormentor, Danny Murphy, has come on for Diarra.
MAN UNITED SUBSTITUTION: Interestingly, Rio Ferdinand has come off, having appeared to limp a little. Chris Smalling comes on in his stead.
Meanwhile, Schwarzer pulls off a fantastic double save from Young, to prevent United sealing their victory.
Great lofted through ball from Danny Murphy, which Clint Dempsey marginally fails to latch onto – the chance emphasises how perilous United’s lead is at the moment.
FINAL UNITED SUBSTITUTION: Scholes replaces Rooney, in a move that indicates a certain level of respect, which Ferguson seems to be affording Fulham (by reverting to a five-man midfield).
Five more minutes until United fans can breathe comfortably again. In saying that, Fulham are looking very tired now – don’t know if they’ve anything left in the tank.
Wow! Murphy goes down under Carrick’s challenge and nothing is given by he referee.
The Fulham midfielder was undeniably looking for the penalty, but it’s the type of challenge that would usually be penalised if it were outside the box.
Three minutes of time added on to be played…
Ruiz gives away a stupid free-kick to take the pressure off United. Seconds remaining…
FULL-TIME: MAN UNITED 1-0 FULHAM
Gary Neville says that the referee “got [the Murphy decision] wrong”.
A fair few people on Twitter agree with Mr Neville, it seems.
Although these things even themselves out over the course of the season, as they say.
Martin Jol diplomatically says that the Carrick incident was a “difficult decision” for the referee.
Gary Neville rightly praises Jonny Evans’ performance and says he was “the pick of the bunch tonight”. Most-improved Premier League player of the past few months perhaps?
Man of the match Jonny Evans admits that United were fortunate with the penalty decision.
Okay, that’s it from me. Thanks for reading and commenting. Night all.
