Manchester United 3-2 Fulham
Having lost in their opening fixture away to Everton, Manchester United knew they would need a win in their first home Premier League game. Going into this match however they were facing a confident Fulham who had breezed aside Norwich 5-0 just a week earlier in one of the most impressive performances of the opening week.
The confidence of Fulham showed from the opening whistle and after just 141 seconds Fulham had raced out to a 1-0 lead thanks to a Damien Duff finish inside the penalty area from a Bryan Ruiz free kick. Their lead however was to be short lived and less than 8 minutes later Robin Van Persie would open his account for United as he banged in a beauty.
After equalising United pushed hard for another goal and their pressure told as they scored their second of the match with new signing Shinji Kagawa putting in from close range after a Mark Schwarzer save landed at his feet. It seemed after this goal that United would want to put Fulham to the sword and bag themselves as many as they could get. Just minutes after taking the lead the ball was in the net again thanks to Rafael, though it was ruled offside as United sought to increase their lead. The pressure eventually told as they claimed a 3rd goal before half time, again it was Rafael who put the ball in the net, this time he was onside as United appeared to have the game in the bag before half time.
Sadly for Manchester United fans their team has a habit of making life harder than it needs to be and midway through the second half goal keeper David De Gea and captain Nemanja Vidic collided in mid air going for the same cross. Somehow the ball caught Vidic on the heel before rolling into the net in what will like be one of the most bizarre own goals of the season. This seemed to give the Fulham attack some real hope and they searched for an equaliser in the final 25 minutes though United just did enough to thwart the Fulham attack. Sadly the defensive duties did have a casualty as Wayne Rooney suffered a nasty gash in stoppage time that will likely keep him out for around a month.
Whilst Alex Ferguson will be happy at the 3 points he won't be happy at the fact United made the game hard for themselves and almost threw it away. Their defensive woes are frightening at the moment and they really need to do something about it or it will again cost them points like it did last season. The absence of Rooney, any other season would have been really catastrophic for the Red Devils however new signings Robin Van Persie and Shinji Kagawa proved in the first half that United probably don't need to rely on Rooney as much this year. In fact it seems likely that Kagawa, who looked tremendous again, will be their key player this season and can really pull the strings with complete ease.
Martin Jol may feel unlucky his team didn't manage to steal a point, they were certainly the better team in the second half and forced a great save from De Gea just before half time, however he will take solace in they way his men played. They refused to give up at 3-1 down like some other teams would have, they refused to accept the game was lost and they showed real character once again. Moussa Dembele put on an excellent performance and could well be the key to the Fulham attack over the coming season and Mladen Petric once again looked a threat and was close to scoring before being subbed off. Jol has got a strong team here and I wouldn't be surprised if they challenge for a Europa League place at the end of the year.
Notes-
This match saw the first Premier League start for Robin Van Persie in a Manchester United Shirt
Damien Duff scored in a second successive game
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