Fulham Vs Manchester united - first half report
Manchester united went into the locker rooms after the first half against Fulham 1-0. Having done well in their 2nd match of the new premier league season. it was the old warhorse Paul Scholes who scored the only goal of the half.
Before the match the biggest news was that Wayne Rooney was not part of United touring party. He has been going through one of the leanest patches in his career, going back all the way back to march this year when he got himself injured after scoring against Bayern Munich in the champions league. He followed it up with a woeful world cup. But the news from Manchester United camp was that he was suffering from a stomach bug. So the new Boy Hernandez got a start alongside Berbatov, and in midfield it was the hero of the first game Paul Scholes with Fletcher in the middle and Park on the left and Valencia on the right.
After Javier Hernandez kneeled down on the halfway line and prayed immediately prior to kick-off, we get started as Fulham took on Manchester United.
It was a Lively opening from both teams, working the ball around the pitch at pace and probing for an opening. There was no final third action in the first 5 minutes though.
Luis Valencia piled forward down the United right and cut in to the box, but his attempted backheel to Paul Scholes sold the midfielder short and the opportunity to create a chance went begging. Till this point the play was more with United, Fulham tried to cause a threat on the break.
United looked very, very dangerous in the early stages after a ball into the box was headed back to the edge of the six-yard box, Dimitar Berbatov's acrobatic volley was brilliantly tipped over by David Stockdale.
Then came the goal, with the 35-year-old man of the moment doing it again. United worked a corner from the left to just inside the box and when Dimitar Berbatov layed it back beautifully, Scholes hit a 25-yard rasper that flied along the floor and settled in the bottom corner.
There was almost a perfect response from Fulham, but after Bobby Zamora's flick-on, Simon Davies could only fire just past the angle of post and crossbar from 20 yards.
United did continue to press on and dominated the play for the first 20 minutes. Fulham got themselves back in the game and did create a number of chances. After the half hour mark the match looked to be even. United tough held on and ended the half with a 1-0 lead.
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