Fulham boss Chris Colemanwas left frustrated as his side, now with just five points from eight games, lost another game despite playing some attractive football.

Coleman, who left out Zat Knight for disciplinary reasons, said: "Maybe it would be better if we were playing poorly and not getting results as then we could improve.

"We gave some slack goals away, albeit against a very good Manchester United team. Offensively, they're fantastic.

"We should have more points and football can be cruel but we can't afford to feel sorry for ourselves. Charlton away in two weeks' time is going to be another tough game. I'll take a poor performance and a win."

Coleman added: "There's been a lot said about the Premiership and a lack of good attacking performances. I don't think you can say that about us, but it's not getting us anywhere at the moment.

"We've got to keep on believing in what we're good at - passing and playing football in the right way. We'd have beaten most sides with two goals at home but it wasn't to be."

Man Utd Coach Alex Ferguson answered recent criticism of Manchester United's supposedly cautious approach by hailing their "scintillating football" in a thrilling 3-2 victory at Fulham.

Ferguson declared: "At one point, I thought it could end up 20-20 but common sense took over - or boring football took over!

"It was a terrific game, end to end, and Fulham played a great part in that. They are a real handful. They played exceptionally well against Tottenham on Monday night and didn't get anything for it.

"They played well again today and didn't get anything for it. But equally some of our football was scintillating in the first half."

Ferguson said"Park was excellent, the boy is coming on terrifically. His movement off the ball and his awareness of space is exceptional for a young man."

Asked about his move back to 4-4-2 after Old Trafford had called for that system last weekend, he claimed: "We didn't play with two up, we played with one behind.

"We did that in the last two games. We did it on Tuesday and we did it last Saturday and we lost. That's all I'm saying about that."

As for Fulham's two goals, Ferguson added: "They got a break for the first goal in a scramble between Rio and John, and a deflected shot. The second goal looked really slack defending by us. It went straight in - just like last weekend."