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Fulham 3 Manchester U 0
ALEX FERGUSON'S men were Duffed up as their title challenge was rocked at Craven Cottage.
Fulham took the lead after just 22 minutes through Danny Murphy to leave United's makeshift defence reeling.
Bobby Zamora doubled the advantage a minute after the break and Damien Duff wrapped up the victory with a glorious left-foot volley 15 minutes from time.
Crippled by injuries, Ferguson had no choice but to play Ritchie de Laet alongside Michael Carrick at the heart of his defence.
But the inexperienced pairing could not handle the threat posed by Zamora and Clint Dempsey.
And it was little surprise to see Fulham inflict the champions' fifth defeat of the season - opening the door for Chelsea to pull further away at the top of the table.
As early as the 17th minute, the Cottagers looked capable of breaking the deadlock thanks to a wonderful move started by Dempsey.
The American floated in a long pass to Zamora who expertly chested the ball down into the path of Zoltan Gera, only for the Hungarian to shoot too close to Tomasz Kuszczak.
Duff then should have produced a better conclusion to one run into the box but Fulham only had to wait until the 22nd minute to storm into the lead.
Darren Fletcher passed to Paul Scholes but the former England midfielder was too slow in reacting, allowing Murphy to snatch the ball from his feet and fire a 30-yard effort into the net.
Zamora should have made it 2-0 but nodded Gera's precision cross wide from six yards out after outjumping Fletcher.
Quick thinking from Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney created a half-chance for Anderson but Fulham snuffed it out with a wall of white shirts.
United's problems deepened a minute into the second half when their patched-up defence was unpicked once more.
Duff supplied the cross to the far post where Dempsey was able to deflect the ball into the path of Zamora, who rifled home from close range.
In desperate need of inspiration, a lacklustre United threw on Dimitar Berbatov for Darron Gibson and switched to a three-pronged strike force.
Needing a third goal to kill off United, who were showing tentative signs of a fightback, Duff obliged in the 75th minute.
The visitors failed to clear their lines, allowing the brilliant Zamora to set-up Duff to smash home from 15 yards.
Delirious Fulham fans chanted "We want four, we want four" and Zamora would have obliged had Kuszczak not made a superb late save.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Duff (Greening 76), Murphy (Dikgacoi 80), Baird, Gera, Dempsey, Zamora (Nevland 90). Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Riise, Etuhu, Smalling. Goals: Murphy 22, Zamora 46, Duff 75.
Man Utd: Kuszczak, Fletcher, De Laet (Fabio Da Silva 58), Carrick, Evra, Valencia, Scholes, Anderson, Gibson (Berbatov 58), Owen (Welbeck 72), Rooney. Subs Not Used: Foster, Park, Tosic, Obertan. Booked: Scholes.
Att
: 25,700
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).
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