On United's 1-0 win at Craven Cottage

Manchester United played Fulham for the second time in the space of a week. The previous meeting was more like a walk in the park than a fourth round FA Cup tie and some United fans could be forgiven for thinking that opening up a 10 point lead on City, who play Liverpool later today, was a given. However, the game at the cottage proved to be more of a cup tie than the one last week. The action was frenetic; it was end to end. The close pitch at Fulham played its part in creating the spectacle, as did the floodlights.

De Gea has a stonker

After the comedy of errors that led to Southampton‘s opening goal in midweek, the pressure was on David De Gea to deliver and there were perhaps a few eyebrows raised when the number 1 was on the teamsheet and not the number 13. Sir Alex seems to have infinite faith in the young Spaniard and his confidence was rewarded. The Spaniard was excellent throughout the game and hardly put a foot wrong. He made a couple of top-draw saves in the first half and was excellent in the second half too.

There is, of course, no doubt that he is one of the best shot stoppers in the league but it is his handling of the balls into the box that have come in for a lot of criticism, and rightfully so. In this game, however, he appeared to be a supremely confident young man and came out with aplomb to collect crosses and corners.

However, this could be something of a false dawn for he had a similar stellar game a month ago and then relapsed into his not-so-good state. It seems to be a case of one step forwards and two steps back. Sir Alex must be hoping that all three steps point firmly in the forward direction; and soon. Real Madrid come knocking on the door next and against them, there can be no ifs and buts; certainty is a necessity.

A clean sheet

It was Evans partnering Rio in the center of defence with the usual duo of Evra and Rafael on the flanks. Evra seems to have shaken off the extremely poor form of the last season and put in another excellent display, combining brilliantly with first Nani and then Rooney down the left to offer width. Rafael continues to impress with another stellar performance. He seems to have improved the defensive side of his game tremendously and that would, undoubtedly, please Sir Alex, no end.

Evans, arguably United’s best defender this term, was back for this one after missing a few due to injury. He did look a little rusty but by and large, the center back pairing of Rio and him did quite well. There were moments of confusion at times but, it did not lead to disaster. Towards the end, when Fulham played from wide, they duo dealt with the aerial threat in the box quite comfortably. The result: a rare clean sheet for United this term.

Playing with width

The midfield four that Sir Alex screamed one thing: width. Carrick and Cleverley played through the middle with Valencia on the right and Nani on the left. Everyone knows precisely what they are going to get from Valencia and, although, he has been quite off-color over the past few months, he showed signs to getting back to his devastating best. At times, what is required is that incisive direct running and he did provide that on a few occasions. However, he is still struggling to get back to the heights of last season.

Nani was a pleasant surprise. The brilliant yet so often frustratingly bipolar Portuguese started out brilliantly and combined with Rooney, van Persie and Evra with some exquisite give-n-gos and neat little tricks and flicks. However, as the game progressed, he did show signs of being increasingly erratic and was taken off with about 10 minutes to play.Overall, though, it was an encouraging performance from a player who has been out injured for a while. However, the problem with Nani is that this sort of performance has been seen on more than one occasion. Perhaps it will be different this time. Perhaps.

Rooney is on one of those streaks

Rooney has been hailed as a complete forward by many. He can score goals, make them and can track back diligently. Of that, there can be no doubt. However, if Rooney’s career graph is taken, it is often a pattern of him scoring goals in clutches. He goes on a hot streak, scoring quite a few on the trot and then goes missing from the scoresheet. Of course, even when he is not scoring, he contributes more than his fair share of assists and to the build-up play. Now seems to be one of his scoring streaks, with 8 goals in the last 7. Sir Alex would be most happy with this scoring streak and would be hoping that it will continue for a while longer. With van Persie’s goals having become slightly fewer in number over the past few weeks, Rooney’s streak has come at just the right time.

United have now firmly put the pressure back on City by opening up a 10 point lead at the top. City, of course, have a game in hand and will reduce the gap to 7 if they beat Liverpool tonight. However, United have laid down the gauntlet and it is for the noisy neighbours to respond now.