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Cracking up! Rooney and Scholes sent off as United defeat opens up the title race




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Fergie: We didn't meet the challenge
March 21, 2009

UNITED boss Sir Alex Ferguson acknowledged his team were not good enough as they lost 2-0 at Fulham.

The defeat, on the back of last week's 4-1 home reverse against Liverpool, means the Premier League leaders have suffered back-to-back league defeats for the first time in 147 games.

After Danny Murphy (penalty) and Zoltan Gera had scored in each half to condemn his team to defeat, Ferguson said: "In the first half we never got started.

"They were lively and got stuck in and we respect that - they lost 4-0 to us a couple of weeks ago. But it's disappointing we didn't meet the challenge.

"If you lose games in March and April it can cost you. Fortunately we have a slender lead at the moment but not a lot and I'm hoping we come back from the internationals back to our best."

Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were both sent off by referee Phil Dowd - Scholes in the 17th minute for handling a Bobby Zamora header on the goal line and substitute Rooney for a second bookable offence.

The latter dismissal frustrated Ferguson, who added on MUTV: "Did he (Rooney) throw the ball at the referee? The ball was thrown direct to where the free-kick was being taken - did it hit the referee? No.

"He threw it because he wanted to get the game going. What can you say about that?

"There wasn't a bad tackle in the game but John Pantsil was booked in the first half for nothing - it was just a tackle. Tackling isn't always perfect - I thought it was totally unfair.

"But there's no point talking about the referee - we didn't play well enough to win the game in the first half and that's why we lost it.

"In the second half I thought we did really well - they kept going and credit to them.

"But we're home to Aston Villa in our next game - and that will be crucial."

Fulham coach Roy Hodgson insists United are favourites to retain the Premier League title despite their back-to-back defeats.

Chelsea were unable to take advantage of United's second successive slip-up but Liverpool have the chance to do so on Sunday.

However Hodgson declared: "United are such a good team with so many good players, I still think they are favourites for the championship this year - but the last two defeats have given the teams chasing them that little bit more hope."


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Beaten Manchester United see red
Fulham 2 Manchester United 0

Jonathan Northcroft at Craven Cottage
YOU wait an age for one shocking disintegration of poise and invulnerability and suddenly two come along at once. Eight days ago Manchester United were skipping through the forest with seemingly nothing to stop them popping trophies in their basket.

Now they are as edgy as Little Red Riding Hoods who have just seen the Big Bad Wolf. Sir Alex Ferguson scoffed that he’d need to “read more Freud” in order to fathom Rafael Benitez, but if his nemesis can fashion a win over Aston Villa this afternoon, the joke will be on Ferguson. Liverpool would move to within a point of United with a chance, thanks to the fixture list, to regain leadership of the Premier League before United play again. It is Ferguson and his players who seem in need of psychoanalysis, if only to understand what inner collapse has caused such a sudden loss of authority.

Ferguson did his best to preserve any remaining veneer of calm as the teams left the pitch. He ordered Carlos Tevez, then Edwin Van der Sar to stop harranguing Phil Dowd, the referee, but nobody was fooled.

Apoplexy overcame Ferguson in his post-match interview. After complaining about the sending-offs of both Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes (questioning the latter, for blatant handball on the goalline seemed even more one-eyed than claiming United were “the better team” in their 4-1 defeat by Liverpool last week) exasperation caused Ferguson to tail off. “Ach . . . I mean . . . oh,” he said, “what can you say about that?”

Fulham were magnificent, feisty, resolute, intelligent, controlled by United’s old bugbear Danny Murphy in the first period and kept intact by Mark Schwarzer’s heroic goalkeeping in the second. They were rocking only briefly, when United shelled Schwarzer’s goal for 10 minutes either side of the hour mark but that was it.

Ferguson’s assertion following the Liverpool defeat that “we will respond” was not borne out and for once the manager is grateful for an international break. He should have been thanking Dowd.

Cristiano Ronaldo could easily have earned the same penalty as Rooney and Scholes, who will miss United’s next fixture, versus Aston Villa, for a foot-off-the-ground lunge on Murphy for which he was yellow carded but might have seen red, and a prissy show of dissent minutes later, for which the referee merely warned him.

Dowd was more punitive towards Rooney. With a minute left the forward hurled the ball away when Dowd ordered a free kick to be retaken. He had already been cautioned for a cynical shirt-pull on Olivier Dacourt and was ordered to leave the field after being booked again. On his way off, Rooney landed a meaty punch upon the corner flag but it was United who had received the knockout blow.

Moments earlier Zoltan Gera had settled matters by scoring with a bicycle kick, teeing himself up cleverly after interplay with Andy Johnson.

Fulham’s early lead arrived when Brede Hangeland flicked on at a corner, Van der Sar saved Bobby Zamora’s header and Scholes palmed the ball away when Zamora followed up with another headed effort. Murphy stroked the penalty past Van der Sar and Ferguson’s gamble of recalling Scholes at Michael Carrick’s expense had failed. Dimitar Berbatov and Ronaldo, chosen as the front-line ahead of Rooney and Carlos Tevez, were indolent and indulgent respectively. Rooney, on at striker after replacing Berbatov at half-time, was the inspiration behind United’s comeback and it stalled the moment Ferguson brought on Tevez and moved Rooney to the right.

Fulham should have added to their first goal earlier but Clint Dempsey and Zamora missed chances and there were too many long-range shots.

Giggs released Ronaldo with a gorgeous pass and Schwarzer saved with his body when Park Ji-Sung attempted to convert the cross. Rooney went for goal with the rebound and Schwarzer saved again.

When Murphy made it 1-0 the cameras panned to the bench and you could see the gum turning round in Ferguson’s mouth at the speed of clothes in a spin cycle. At 2-0 he leaned back open mouthed. The chewing, and United’s world, had stopped.

FULHAM: Schwarzer 9, Pantsil 7, Hughes 7, Hangeland 8, Konchesky 7, Dempsey 7 (Gera 81min), Murphy 9 (Dacourt 67min), Etuhu 7, Davies 7, Johnson 6, Zamora 6 (Kamara 77min)

MAN UTD: Van der Sar 8, O’Shea 5 (Tevez 70min), Evans 5, Ferdinand 6, Evra 5, Ronaldo 5, Fletcher 5, Scholes 3, Park 5, Giggs 6, Berbatov 6 (Rooney ht, 5)

Star man: Danny Murphy (Fulham)

Yellow cards: Fulham: Pantsil, Dempsey Man Utd: Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Rooney

Red cards: Man Utd: Scholes, Rooney

Referee: P Dowd

Attendance: 25,652















Fulham 2 Manchester United 0: Fergie furious as United crash and Rooney and Scholes see red
By Malcolm Folley

Sir Alex Ferguson shuffled from the crime scene, looking like an elderly man bemused by the sudden disappearance of all he holds dear. In just eight days, the heart of his team of multi-million-pound footballers has been stolen from in front of his disbelieving eyes.

On a second successive afternoon of abject misery for the Scot, Manchester United finished with nine players on the pitch and a crisis on their hands. If Sir Alex had been enraged when Liverpool sacked their Old Trafford citadel last weekend, his mood on the return north last night can be only imagined.

Just a fortnight ago, United had embarrassed Fulham in a 4-0 FA Cup victory. Yesterday, they played like drowning men, and Ferguson must take his share of the blame.

He gambled with a team selection that demoted Wayne Rooney to a seat on the bench in the sunshine that bathed this fashionably elegant quarter of south west London with a warmth that never permeated the demeanour of United's manager yesterday.

Ferguson could feel only the cold breath of Liverpool on his neck. According to well-informed sources, Ferguson has vented much of his fury in recent days in the direction of Rooney at United's training ground at Carrington.


But if the striker was not deemed necessary to stop the rot set in by that defeat against Liverpool, he must truly have offended his manager.

Ferguson, summoning all his years of experience, opted to drop England's premier forward along with Carlos Tevez, Michael Carrick and Anderson. Before the interval, he had realised the folly of his plan.


Dimitar Berbatov was a listless, ineffectual lone target man, and at half-time, when no one in a United shirt escaped Ferguson's wrath, Rooney was instructed to replace the Bulgarian.
Perhaps in the days ahead, Ferguson will reflect that this had been no occasion to put the family silver at risk on such a reckless call.

Who would you want in a backs-to-the- wall battle? Rooney's belligerence, and renowned allegiance to United? Or Berbatov, a dilettante of a striker whose neat touches complement a team in the ascendancy?

Sadly for Ferguson, by the time Rooney's call came, the red mist was only a short time away. He was summoned only after United were already one goal, and one man down.

Paul Scholes was correctly shown a red card by referee Phil Dowd after he used two hands to prevent a close-range header from Bobby Zamora finding the net in the 17th minute. As soon as he had flapped the ball to safety, Scholes dropped on to his haunches.

His faraway look told its own story. He knew a red card was inevitable and, when it came, he walked disconsolately to the dressing room.


Fulham captain Danny Murphy, cool-as-you-like, sent United goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, in the wrong direction from the penalty spot with his fourth Premier League goal against the champions.

Van der Sar, who played for Fulham until Ferguson paid £2million to solve an ongoing problem with filling his goalkeeper's jersey, had to be at his best to prevent United from falling deeper in arrears.

Only after the arrival of Rooney did United at last look capable of mounting a threat. But then Fulham's previously unemployed goalkeeper, Mark Schwarzer, showed his full repertoire.

He made a stunning double-save, from Ji-Sung Park, and Rooney, who pounced on the rebound, and for an encore made an accomplished save from a flashing header by Cristiano Ronaldo.

In truth, Ronaldo spent too much of the afternoon in his mode of pantomime clown, falling to the ground seeking sympathy for perceived aggrievances only to be mocked by Fulham's fans sensing what they had feared to be a wake was becoming a party down by the riverside.

Rooney - obviously frustrated at being left out - showed us both sides of his mercurial temperament. On the ball, he was hard to contain; but as the clock ran down, so did his patience.


Frustration: Cristiano Ronaldo sees another chance go begging
He was booked in the 81st minute for a foul on substitute Olivier Dacourt - and six minutes later Rooney over-reacted to Dowd's whistle by hurling the ball, with child-like petulance, down the field.

Dowd raised a yellow card, then instantly turned it to red. As Rooney left the field, eyes blazing wild, he smashed a corner flag that duly bounced around like a speed ball in gymnasium. He vanished to a cacophony of boos and laughter.
One minute earlier, Zoltan Gera, who had been on the field barely five minutes, scored Fulham's second with a delightful volley after an exquisite first touch.

At the final whistle, Fulham's players revelled in victory, a reward for a performance that had been bright and busy in the first half, and stoic after the interval.

It will be little consolation to Ferguson to hear that his Fulham counterpart Roy Hodgson believes his side had beaten this year's champions.
'United are such a good team with so many good players, I still think they are favourites for the championship this year,' said Hodgson. 'But the last two defeats have given the teams chasing them that little bit more hope.'

And down on the field, Ferguson, in eight short days, had aged with worry as his football team could not respond to a crisis for the second time of asking.

FULHAM (4-4-2): Schwarzer; Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky; Davies, Murphy (Dacourt 67min), Etuhu, Dempsey (Gera 81); Johnson, Zamora (Kamara 77).
Subs (not used): Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Stoor, Kallio. Booked: Pantsil, Dempsey.

MAN UTD(4-4-2): Van der Sar; O'Shea (Tevez 70), Ferdinand, Evans, Evra; Fletcher, Scholes, Giggs, Park; Ronaldo, Berbatov (Rooney 46).
Subs (not used): Foster, Neville, Anderson, Carrick, F Da Silva.
Booked: Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Rooney.
Sent off: Scholes (18min), Rooney (89).
Referee: P Dowd (Staffordshire).








Shambolic United submit to Murphy's law

Fulham 2 Manchester United 0: Scholes and Rooney dismissed as Fulham midfielder inflicts another defeat on champions to open up title race

By Steve Tongue at Craven Cottage

Manchester United lost their discipline, composure and their stranglehold on the Premier League yesterday when Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were both sent off as their team sank to a historic defeat down by the river. As a result the title, which had appeared signed and sealed just over a week ago, is suddenly open for renegotiation. After Liverpool had their say at Old Trafford last week, United were silenced again by a first loss on this atmospheric old ground for 45 years.

Playing for more than 70 minutes with 10 men after Scholes was dismissed for handling – allowing Danny Murphy to score from the consequent penalty – the champions also lost Rooney to a second yellow card soon after Zoltan Gera had condemned them to defeat. It offers their Merseyside rivals the chance – one that Chelsea could not take at Tottenham – to move to within one point of them by beating Aston Villa today.

Fulham played with the confidence of a side ninth in the table rather than one that had only beaten United once in 30 attempts. With 40 points in the bag they can now celebrate another season at this level, a fine achievement by the much-travelled Roy Hodgson. Brede Hangeland, the lanky Norwegian centre-half coveted by bigger clubs, was outstanding again, Murphy ran the midfield for an hour and Mark Schwarzer brought off a stunning double save in the second half as the visitors finally pulled themselves together.

Until then, they were fractious and edgy, only threatening to score once the home side tired. Sir Alex Ferguson had made five changes from the side humbled at home, bringing back Ryan Giggs, Scholes and Dimitar Berbatov, who had all been introduced as late substitutes last Saturday, to the exclusion of Rooney, Carlos Tevez and Anderson while Darren Fletcher came in for Michael Carrick. But Scholes lasted only 18 minutes and the ineffective Berbatov no more than 45, Rooney replacing him at half-time.

Cristiano Ronaldo began as an orthodox striker then had to drop deeper after Scholes' sending off, although his disinclination to tackle back often gave Fulham an extra man in midfield. He was also booked for a wild challenge on Murphy and spent much time on the floor, mostly, in the referee Phil Dowd's opinion, following legitimate tackles. The home side went ahead from one of several corners they forced early on. Simon Davies took it, and although Edwin van der Sar did well to keep out Hangeland's header, Scholes also used his hand to prevent Bobby Zamora nodding in the rebound. It was a clear red card and Scholes trudged into the Cottage dressing room as Murphy, so often the scourge of United in his Liverpool days, calmly punished them again.

The goalkeeper later saved from Zamora twice and Davies, not always convincingly, and it was not until the 58th minute, when Schwarzer held a low drive from Fletcher, that United recorded an attempt on target. There were soon more to come, however, for Rooney's presence had enlivened them considerably. His chip from the byline allowed Ronaldo a header at the goalkeeper and a few minutes later came an extraordinary double save. Ronaldo crossed from the left and Schwarzer first blocked Park Ji-Sung from just a couple of yards, then parried the follow-up by Rooney. Another minute and he had to save from Ronaldo as United went for broke by bringing on Tevez and moving Park to right-back.

With Murphy off injured, Fulham's attacks had become no more than breakaways, Van der Sar's work reduced to tidying up. But in the 87th minute the substitute Gera took a pass from Andy Johnson and with Rio Ferdinand not close enough to him was able to hook in the second goal.

Rooney had been booked for holding back Olivier Dacourt and with two minutes to play he succumbed to frustration, as so often in the past, throwing the ball away after United were awarded a free-kick. Team-mates tried to claim that he was merely returning it for the free-kick to be taken but there was dissent there as well, and more when he gave the corner-flag a right-hander on his way off the pitch.

Attendance: 25,652

Referee: Phil Dowd

Man of the match: Hangeland

Match rating: 7/10

















Fantastic Fulham burst Manchester United's bubble

Unreal, quite unreal. It was supposed to be a gentle afternoon in the sunshine by the Thames for Manchester United, ready to prove their defeat by Liverpool was just a blip on their inexorable march to the title.

By Ian Chadband

Instead, it ended in rare and unexpected darkness for Alex Ferguson's men, what with a resounding defeat by a magnificent Fulham side, just nine men left on the pitch and serious question marks over their both his side's temperament and ability to stop the blip turning into a full-blown crisis.

You would loved to have known what Ferguson was thinking as he chewed impassively after Zoltan Gera had finished off United in the dying seconds, hooking in Fulham's second goal acrobatically.

His side had lost Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney to seedings off, they had taken a first half hammering which few of his sides have ever experienced and tomorrow Liverpool have a chance of reducing their lead at the top to just one point.

And will he blame himself? The game changed after the interval once he had brought on Rooney for the totally ineffective Dimitar Berbatov but, by that point, they were struggling desperately after the double whammy moment in the 17th minute when Paul Scholes was sent off for handball on the line, allowing Danny Murphy to convert the penalty.

Ferguson ended the afternoon having to shepherd his players away from complaining at referee Phil Dowd, who late on incurred their wrath when he gave Rooney a second yellow for petulance in throwing the ball away.

Yet he will know they had no-one to blame but themselves. He had called for a stirring response after the Liverpool debacle and, apart from a major rally in the last half-hour when only the brilliance of Mark Schwarzer repeatedly kept 10-man United at bay, he got only incoherence.

Indeed, United could probably count themselves lucky that they aren't losing Cristiano Ronaldo for a couple of games because, on a day when he too lost the plot with his posturing and moaning, he could easily have been sent off himself just before the end.

It was bizarre; amid laughs and chants of outrage, Ronaldo kept showing off the top of his thigh to Dowd to suggest that he had been assaulted by Fulham's defenders. If it had been one of his female admirers, it might have been different; the official was so unimpressed he gave Ronaldo, who had already been booked, a final warning.

Ferguson had threatened to attack any complacency and five changes from the Liverpool shambles proved his assertion. Dropping Rooney was calamitous, though.

United were curiously lethargic from the off as Fulham repeatedly bore down on them with the zest of a team which clearly felt a measure of release after their first away win of the season at Bolton the previous week, United were ragged and absent-minded.

Calamity befell them as Simon Davies slung the ball across from a corner, Bobby Zamora had one close range header clawed away by Van der Sar but, from the rebound, the striker nodded towards the top corner only from Scholes to instantly raise his hands to keep the ball out. He knew he was off.

Murphy's subsequent clinical finish from the spot was merely the signal for Fulham to batter United, Zamora keeping Van der Sar busy with shots from all ranges.

United were so under the cosh that the dismal Berbatov had to be sacrificed at half-time. At least, Ferguson could have no complaint with the second half spirit as United, even with 10 men, finally began to make their class tell.

Ronaldo, though, was so frustrated after being the victim of one assault on his Achilles that he lunged in almost knee high at Murphy. If he had connected he would have been off; Dowd settled for the yellow.

Yet Ronaldo's wildness at least energised him and United. He forced one brilliant save from Schwarzer from a header before the Australian made an amazing double stop to keep out Park and Rooney.

Rooney's self-control deserted him as the clock ticked down, and he chucked the ball away in disgust, leaving Dowd no option but to send him off a few minutes after he'd been yellow carded for a foul on Olivier Dacourt. It put the seal on United's most wretched day of the season.










Fulham 2 United 0: Player ratings
Stuart Mathieson

March 21, 2009

Van der Sar: Kept United in with a sniff with some unorthodox first half stops when under the cosh 6

O'Shea: Was in a pickle early on a couple of times with Ferdinand and that set the tone 4

Ferdinand: Unsteady in the early stages when Fulham had United on the back foot 5

Evans: The Irishman was always uneasy against the Johnson-Zamora attack 5

Evra: Was exposed too many times when the Londoners were in the driving seat. 4

Park: His workrate not enough on this occasion to unsettle the home side 5

Fletcher: Worked harder than most to turn it around even though not on top form 5

Scholes: Desperation for penalty but it did Reds no favours 3

Ronaldo: Animated and petulant for too much of the game but got in two decent headers when his proper head was on 4

Giggs: Gave away so many loose passes in the first half that encouraged Fulam. Improved in second half 5

Berbatov: Ball hardly came to him in an awful first half and ankle injury rubbed salt in it 4

Subs:

Rooney (sub Berbatov 45) Injected enthusiasm but went too far 6

Tevez (sub O'Shea 69) No real chance 5

Not used: Anderson, Carrick, Fabio, Neville, Foster

Fulham: Schwarzer, Konchesky, Pantsil, Hangeland, Johnson, Zamora (Kamara 77), Murphy (Dacourt 68) , Hughes, Etuhu, Dempsey (Gera 82), Davies

Goals:

Fulham: Murphy (18 pen) Gera (87)

United: None

Bookings:

Fulham: Pantsil (43) Dempsey (72)

United: Evans (27) Evra (45) Ronaldo (56) Rooney (81)

Sent Off: Scholes (17) Rooney (88)

Battle of the Bosses:

Hodgson revived his side after two drubbings by Reds better than Fergie able to inspire Reds after Liverpool mauling

Referee: Phil Dowd - A tough one on his hands but he was largely on top of it. 7

Attendance: 25,652