From The Touchlines

THE EQUALISER: Manchester United’s Ryan Giggs scores from an acute angle to level the score against Fulham at Craven Cottage. United won 2-1.

Cristiano Ronaldo was the toast of Manchester United as he scored a last gasp winner to secure a difficult 2-1 victory over Fulham.

The win opened a nine point gap over defending champions Chelsea, who play Arsenal in the League Cup final at Cardiff tomorrow.

United started the fixture at full strength, with the exception of Gary Neville, who was left on the bench.

Fulham were on the offensive right from the start, with Simon Davies and Pape Bouba Diop both testing United keeper Edwin van der Sar.

But after 17 minutes, it was Brian McBride who broke the deadlock when he capitalised on some bad defending by Nemanja Vidic and van der Sar to tuck in Fulham’s opening goal.

Three minutes later van der Sar seemingly had not recovered from the hulabaloo earlier, when he fumbled with his clearance right in front of Tomasz Radzinski.

It was only after 25 minutes did United get a foothold in the match, when Ronaldo’s run from the right nearly resulted in a goal, but his shot went agonisingly wide.

But in only their second chance at goal, Ryan Giggs, captaining United in the absence of Neville, expertly scored with his left foot from an acute angle, after Wayne Rooney had provided the cross.

McBride then tried his luck again, but this time he could only head into the side netting.

It was ten minutes of wilderness for both sides before Patrice Evra found himself in a lot of space, only to lose his composure and shoot wide off the target.

Two minutes later things nearly got out of hand after a Rio Ferdinand foul on Radzinski, which did not go down well with the latter.

Both players clashed soon after with some pushing and shoving, which resulted in both players going into the referee’s black book.

The half finished 1-1, but United would find themselves in an even more precarious position in the second half, as Fulham went all out to secure three points.

It only took three minutes for van der Sar to be called into action, when he produced a fine one handed save to deny Davies’ half volley after his defence had failed to clear the ball.

After 51 minutes, Radzinski was left ruing his missed chance when he only headed Michael Brown’s cross onto the bar, with van der Sar in no position to stop the goal, should it have gone in.

van der Sar was the man of the hour when he brilliantly blocked Davies’ shot after 64 minutes, after the latter had cut inside of Evra. He subsequently caught the header as well.

McBride then tested van der Sar twice in the 65th minute and 68th minute, with the Dutch keeper coming out tops on both occasions.

United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, in an act of desperation, had brought on John O’Shea for Vidic in the 59th minute, before making a double switch by bringing on Louis Saha for Michael Carrick and Mikael Silvestre for Evra.

But Fulham were seemingly in cruise control, as they held on to the ball more and United were wasting passes.

Saha, who was guilty of not converting a last minute chance in the FA Cup fixture against Reading, shot straight at Fulham’s keeper with 20 minutes left.

It was a cliffhanger for both sides right until the death, when Fulham would come to rue the many chances they had to seal the match.

While their tormentor-in-chief Davies was denied time and again by van der Sar, Ronaldo had the final say when he slammed in the winner with two minutes of regulation time left.

With a run that began from deep in his own half, Ronaldo overran two Fulham defenders down the left flank, brilliantly cut inside the penalty area and struck a low hard shot with his right foot that took a slight deflection off Philip Christanval.

Craven Cottage was silenced, but Ronaldo was promptly mobbed by his fellow teammates on and off the pitch, with Neville the one most notably pleased with the goal.

The excitement did not stop there, as Fulham screamed for a penalty on 90 minutes, after substitute Heidar Helguson, who came on for McBride, seemed to have been brought down by van der Sar.

But it was not given and the match concluded with Fulham fans completely brokenhearted, as a visibly elated Ronaldo gritted his teeth and clenched his fists as United celebrated as though they had just won the league title.

With Liverpool coming up next weekend, United have the chance to extend the lead to 12 points, before Chelsea kick off against Portsmouth.

VICTORY SEALED: Manchester United’s Darren Fletcher (right) celebrates the second goal with teammate Kieran Richardson in the 2-0 win over table proppers Charlton Athletic.

Manchester United commemmorated the 49th anniversary of the Munich air disaster with a 2-0 win over Premiership strugglers Charlton Athletic.

South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung netted his third of the season with a header, and Darren Fletcher scored in similar fashion to maintain their stronghold at the top ahead of Chelsea.

With several key players away on international duty in midweek, manager Sir Alex Ferguson decided to rest two of his key players Michael Carrick and Cristiano Ronaldo, the latter who is still a subject of transfer speculation, with Real Madrid and Barcelona the reported interested parties.

United only took five minutes to show that they meant business of retaining the six point gap at the top, with Park, in space, striking a good shot which was palmed away by Charlton keeper Scott Carson.

The resulting corner nearly produced a goal for United, with Park and Ryan Giggs combining. The Welshman then did well to overrun Darren Ambrose on the right into the box, and delivered a cross in which Louis Saha tried a header but was saved.

On the other end, Danish midfielder Dennis Rommedahl nearly frayed a few United nerves when his shot landed in the side netting.

Three minutes later, it was Ambrose’s turn to give a scare for the largely United crowd, when he connected well with Osei Sankofa’s cross from the right, only to see his header tipped away at the far post by keeper Tomas Kuszczak.

Charlton subsequently held possession for long periods, but came now where near the byline, with Kuszczak relatively untroubled with the Addicks’ lack of precision.

It was on 20 minutes when Gary Neville nearly scored his first goal of the season, when an intended cross into the box was deflected straight into the path of Carson.

Ambrose then saw his shot saved rather comfortably by Kuszczak, who was standing in for Edwin van der Sar, who suffered a broken nose at the previous fixture against Tottenham Hotspur last weekend.

The lack of chances was not a deterrent to United when Park timed his jump well to connect with Patrice Evra’s lofted cross into the box four minutes later to head beyond a stranded Carson.

RISING ABOVE: Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung gets ahead of Charlton Athletic’s Ben Thatcher to head in United’s opener. United won 2-0.

It was Park’s third goal of the season, the last coming against Martin O’Neill’s Aston Villa.

United did not look very settled still after that, though Wayne Rooney produced a fine cross which was headed straight into Carson’s grateful arms by the seemingly ageless Giggs, who was terrorising his opponents with rampaging runs down the left and right.

Giggs and Rooney combined later; this time Rooney was the recipient of a brilliant cross into the area. But what Rooney did after that was just pure magic.

The wonderkid, upon receiving the ball, got a nice first touch, with the second touch a little flick over Souleymane Diawara, which left the defender a tad flustered.

The third touch set him up for what would have been a superb goal, but his execution was just a bit off as his attempted half volley went just inches wide off the far post with seven minutes of the half to go.

With a minute left, Neville again whipped in a cross from the right, which was deflected into Saha’s path, but the Frenchman could only find the side netting as the angle became too acute.

United went into the break with a one goal advantage, but it was hardly comfortable just yet.

The second half got off to a tepid start, with both sides unable to create any clear cut opportunities at goal.

But Rooney and Giggs showed the way again, with the former again placing a wonderful cross to Giggs, only to see the winger mishit it.

That would prove to be his last contribution as he was taken off four minutes later and replaced by Swedish marksman Henrik Larsson.

Neville again failed to break his duck three minutes later when his low drive was saved by Carson.

Saha also squandered another opportunity when his left footed strike was saved by Carson, who was standing his ground with United relentlessly pounding at his goal.

Charlton’s double switch with Kevin Lisbie and Bryan Hughes coming on for Ambrose and Matt Holland six minutes later nearly produced the equaliser, but Rommedahl could not repay Lisbie for earning the freekick by blasting the set piece just wide.

Rooney then played provider again, this time setting up Saha for a surefire goal, only for the Frenchman to shoot weakly under the challenge of a Charlton defender three minutes later.

Rooney finally had something to shout about three minutes later, when his initial shot from a Larsson pass was just pushed away by Carson.

The rebound came back to him, and he played in the perfect cross for Darren Fletcher, who just simply headed into an empty net for United’s second goal.

The goal was enough to settle a relatively easy fixture, and with Chelsea thumping Middlesbrough 3-0 with a Didier Drogba double, the win was all the more crucial in the Premiership title run in.

THE BREAKTHROUGH: Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo (centre) is mobbed by teammates Paul Scholes (left) and Ryan Giggs after scoring the first goal in United’s 4-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur.

Manchester United restored their six-point gap over Chelsea when they thump Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 away at White Hart Lane yesterday.

Goals from Cristiano Ronaldo in the first half and second half goals by Nemanja Vidic, Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs ensured all three points in a fiery affair that threatened to boil over in certain stages.

United brought back their key players after a short break, but they found themselves pinned back with Spurs attacking their defence.

Spurs had the lion’s share of possession, but it was United who carved out the first clear cut chance in the 24th minute when old boy Michael Carrick’s header was palmed away by Paul Robinson.

On the rebound, Ronaldo blasted the ball way over from close range, and under no challenge at all.

Tempers then flared five minutes later when Devil Henrik Larsson seemed to have been clumsily brought down in the penalty area by Spurs defender Anthony Gardner.

But referee Mark Clattenburg made what was to be the first of many blunders when he waved play on, with United players hot on his heels.

They were still remonstrating with him even when Spurs had gone on the attack on the other end.

But the commotion soon died down and Wayne Rooney nearly finished on skipper Gary Neville’s pass two minutes later, only to be disappointed by his own poor finishing.

Spurs hitman Dimitar Berbatov then struck a good shot that grazed the fingertips of Edwin van der Sar on its way out.

Rooney’s foul on Lee Young-pyo five minutes later was living proof that he was still not happy about the penalty not being awarded in United’s favour, and was given a yellow.

It was Rio Ferdinand’s turn to be booked for a foul on Berbatov soon after that, but Aaron Lennon’s subsequent freekick was none the more ordinary.

Just when it looked as though the half would end in a stalemate, there was another moment of controvery sparked by none other than Ronaldo.

Clattenburg awarded a very controversial penalty after Ronaldo went down in the penalty area, seemingly under the challenge of Steed Malbranque, although replays suggested otherwise.

Spurs’ nightmare was compounded when the Portuguese stepped up and duly converted from the spot, much to the lamentations of the London crowd.

POWER AND PRECISION: Manchester United’s Nemanja Vidic (left) reels away in delight after heading powerfully into Tottenham Hotspur’s net for the second goal in United’s 4-0 win over the London outfit.

The momentum was with United at the second half restart, with Spurs keeper Robinson denying Vidic’s well struck shot and then Carrick’s header from the resulting corner.

But there was no stopping Vidic after the flurry of activity in the Spurs half, when he powered a header beyond Robinson.

United put the third nail onto the Spurs coffin when Scholes netted from close range six minutes later, after Larsson’s pickup was put deep into Robinson’s box by a rampaging Ronaldo.

Rooney almost made it two in two, when he sidefooted his shot that just whizzed away on Robinson’s left hand side.

But 10 minutes later, Spurs had the best chance to stop the rot when Berbatov beat the offside trap. But he was left clutching his head when van der Sar brilliantly blocked his shot.

Rooney was then replaced by Louis Saha amid loud jeers by the crowd, who had, all in all, booed five United players including this one.

With 20 minutes left, Spurs were frustrated time and again by their own poor finishing, with substitute Robbie Keane the latest culprit.

Keane had found himself in a good position in the box, only to see Ferdinand get ahead of him.

In frustration, Keane pulled him back and was yellow carded by Clattenburg after a minor confrontation had ensued between the two.

Van der Sar was the hero again five minutes later when he reflexively saved Berbatov’s header from substitute Hossam Ghaly’s cross.

Giggs then completed the rout with a clinical finish, after he was released down the middle with a perfect throughball.

Almost immediately Giggs was taken off and replaced by John O’Shea, with manager Sir Alex Ferguson having one eye on the FA Cup fixture against Reading next weekend.

DOWN AND OUT: Manchester United keeper Edwin van der Sar is attended to by the United medical team as Tottenham Hotspur’s Robbie Keane, whose knee caught van der Sar in the face, looks on during the match at White Hart Lane. United won 4-0.

And it was O’Shea the defender who became O’Shea the shot stopper for the last eight minutes of the match, when van der Sar suffered a broken nose, no thanks to Keane’s knee (who had, apparently, been trying to do a Stephen Hunt act, but just short of it).

Van der Sar left the pitch with his nose still bleeding profusely from the freak challenge, but O’Shea was all suit up to take his place.

O’Shea was called to action two minutes into stoppage time when he cleared away Berbatov’s shot. The latter had previously latched onto Ferdinand’s wayward backpass, but O’Shea was quick to respond.

Spurs were put out of their misery when Clattenburg blew the final whistle, but the match left much to be desired, at least in terms of Clattenburg’s screw-ups at crucial points of the match.