Fulham Force Draw Against Man. United

 2-2 

Manchester United hosted last-place Fulham today at Old Trafford.  United may not be in the position they would like to be, but Fulham are certainly in worse shape flirting with relegation.  Van Persie and Rooney got to start at forward for United and saw a lot of the ball as the Red Devils controlled more than seventy percent of possession for the match.

Although United maintained nearly all of the possession in the first-half, Fulham scored the only goal on one of their rare chances.  Steve Sidwell put Fulham in front when Lewis Holtby played him in-on-goal.  Sidwell made a run behind Darren Fletcher and Holtby picked him out with a chipped ball over the top which Sidwell finished with a first-touch volley (19').

The second-half began similar to the first with United getting all the possession and Fulham playing almost entirely in their own half.  United used all three substitutes in an effort to boost the offense, bringing in Januzaj, Hernandez, and Valencia with about twenty minutes left to play.  Although the subs did not directly affect the score, United were able to get a pair of back-to-back goals to steal the lead.

Juan Mata fired the ball across the face of goal, possibly looking to put a shot on goal.  Instead the ball came to Van Persie waiting at the back-post for an easy tap-in finish (78').  Right after the first goal from United, Michael Carrick scored another for the lead.  A poor clearance by Kieran Richardson sent the ball to Carrick who was able to step into the shot from outside the box (80').  The shot took a favorable deflection off Scott Parker giving keeper Stekelenburg no chance at a save.

Fulham appeared to be fighting a lost cause, down a goal and void of any offense, but they rallied late and produced the equalizer.  Coming in at half-time, substitute Darren Bent scored in stoppage-time for Fulham.  United keeper De Gea was forced to make a save on a shot from Richardson and the rebound was left in front of the net.  Bent was waiting with a header and finished for the final goal of the match (90 +4').

Despite the overwhelming possession, United were not particularly good today.  Time after time United tried to play the ball in from the wings and every time Fulham were able to clear.  Both clubs have tough games up next as Manchester United travel to play Arsenal and Fulham get the red-hot Liverpool at home.

Fulham Knock-Out Norwich City From FA Cup

 3-0 

Fulham and Norwich City were the only two Premier League clubs in action today, facing off for the FA Cup Round 3 replay.  The first meeting ended 1-1 at Norwich forcing the rematch today at Craven Cottage.

Fulham had a rather comfortable first-half scoring twice against the visitors.  Darren Bent scored the first goal of the match when a cross from Pajtim Kasami found him in front of the Norwich goal.  Ashkan Dejagah was closer to Kasami, but was unable to connect with a shot.  The cross rolled on to Bent who smashed the ball between keeper Bunn's legs to score (16').

Later in the half Degajah scored the second goal for Fulham.  Winger Kacaniklić was played in-on-goal by Karagounis and had a good look at goal.  Instead of shooting though Kacaniklić decided to be unselfish and played a square pass for Degajah for the easy finish (41').

Norwich were not much better in the second-half and never got on the scoreboard.  Instead Fulham scored one more goal when a header by Steve Sidwell found the net.  Fulback Sascha Riether played a cross to the far-post and Sidwell won the header for the final goal of the match (68').

In the next round Fulham should have an easier time getting past the League One club Sheffield United.  Don't write them off completely though as Sheffield United beat Aston Villa to reach Round 4 of the FA Cup.

Crystal Palace Lose with Four Goals to Fulham

 1-4 

Crystal Palace have not been particularly good since returning to the Premier League with only one win on the season coming into the Monday night match against Fulham.  Like Crystal Palace, Fulham have not gotten off to a good start and have only two wins out of seven matches played. Crystal Palace were poised to take away three points at home when an early goal put them in front.  Defender Adrian Mariappa pushed forward into the box and scored with a free header right in front of goal (7').

Fulham were being outplayed in the early moments of the match, but the momentum shifted in their favor when Pajtim Kasami scored a brilliant goal.  Kasami made a diagonal run into the box and a well delivered pass helped set him up.  Bringing the pass down with a chest-trap, Kasami then hit the shot on the volley to score from a very tough angle (19').  Near the end of the first-half Fulham took the lead when Steve Sidwell scored with another well struck volley.  Bryan Ruiz hit a free-kick that was blocked by the wall.  The rebound though fell right in front of Sidwell who blasted the volley to the upper-ninety (45').

Crystal Palace were not given much of a chance in the second-half as Dimitar Berbatov and Philippe Senderos each scored shortly after half-time.  First Berbatov scored off a corner-kick with a glancing header to the far-post (50').  Moments later on another corner-kick Senderos was able to win the ball at the far-post and slip the shot under the keeper (55').

Now behind three goals after giving up an early lead, Crystal Palace could not manage to get back into the match.  A few saves were required from Fulham keeper Maarten Stekelenburg, but in the end it was a comfortable road win for Fulham.  Crystal Palace have another tough assignment with Arsenal on the weekend, while Fulham travel to Southampton.