Despite twice taking the lead, through Paul Scholes' 150th club goal and a Brede Hangeland own-goal, United were held to a frustrating draw at Craven Cottage.
A bright start from the Reds was rewarded with a powerful long-range strike from veteran midfielder Scholes, but Fulham manfully rode out the storm, clawed their way back into the game and equalised when Simon Davies converted Damien Duff's low cross.
In a breathless finish to the afternoon, Hangeland struck twice from corners in the space of five minutes; first deflecting home Nani's centre to put United back into the lead, then powerfully heading in a 90th-minute leveller for the hosts. Irritatingly for the Reds, the Norwegian's pair bookended a crucial penalty miss by Nani.
As Wayne Rooney was left in Manchester to recover from a virus, Sir Alex Ferguson retained a 4-4-2 formation, and paired Chicharito - making his first league start - with Dimitar Berbatov. The only other change from the side which overcame Newcastle was the introduction of Ji-sung Park, who took the place of Nani on the left wing.
Even without injured goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer in goal, Fulham's line-up - also 4-4-2 - appeared capable of taking points off United for a third successive year at Craven Cottage.
The hosts were on the back foot early on as United popped passes around with conviction, but struggled to find a route through the Cottagers' well-drilled defence. Park's poke was deflected wide after nine minutes, however, signalling the onset of greater penetration. Moments later, only a fine reaction save from David Stockdale kept out Berbatov's acrobatic volley, but the stand-in stopper was helpless to prevent United taking the lead from the ensuing corner.
Source : Man Utd
