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Manchester United crash to Fulham
LONDON, England -- Manchester United fluffed their chance to top the English Premier League as they were stunned 3-1 at home by Fulham on Saturday. Steed Malbranque and Japanese star Junichi Inamoto scored Fulham's decisive goals after Diego Forlan had cancelled out Lee Clark's third minute opener for the visitors. Chelsea go top as Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink's goal was enough to secure a home victory over Manchester City. Fulham's unexpected win was the Londoners' first victory against Manchester United - home or away - in 39 years. United manager Alex Ferguson, sitting in the Old Trafford stands for the first of a two-game touchline ban, made a string of changes from the side that beat Rangers in the Champions League during the week. But his new-look side struggled throughout as Fulham ran rampant, bringing United their first home loss since September 2002. To add to Ferguson's woes, his side slipped into third thanks to after Chelsea's victory, behind Arsenal, who play at Charlton at home on Sunday. Dutchman Hasselbaink won the points for Claudio Ranieri's band of multinational millionaires on 34 minutes, almost stumbling into the ball after David Seaman parried Adrian Mutu's drive. But the victory was a tricky one against a lively City side, who tested Chelsea keeper Carlo Cudicini a string of times late on. Runaway favoritesUnited, who had not conceded a goal at Old Trafford all season and had not lost at home in the league since September 2002, went into the game as runaway favourites. But they were rocked by Clark's early goal after a slip by Mikael Silvestre and were saved by the crossbar before Uruguayan Forlan leveled with his first goal since January. Forlan squandered further chances in the second half and United paid the price when Malbranque, who signed a contract extension on Friday, scored in the 66th minute. Inamoto made sure of the win in the 79th, when the Japan midfielder pounced on some slack defending to steer the ball past keeper Tim Howard. Ferguson, who said skipper Roy Keane and fellow midfielder Paul Scholes did not play because they were not fit, told Sky Sports: "We looked lethargic, to be honest -- a lifeless performance, unrecognisable. "We got off to a bad start, it spread right through and the amazing thing was that we went in 1-1 at halftime. "We controlled the 20-odd minutes until they scored a second goal and after that there was no chance...they deserved their win, there's no question about that." Fulham's delighted boss Chris Coleman said: "To put that sort of performance in against the champions is brilliant. I think they're the best team in the league and I still think they'll win the championship again. The most entertaining game of the day came at the opposite end of the Premiership table as Wolverhampton Wanderers somehow battled back from a 3-0 half-time deficit at home to tail-enders Leicester to win 4-3. Leicester shot to a seemingly unbeatable lead in the first half after 36-year-old Les Ferdinand headed in a pair inside three minutes from corners and Riccardo Scimeca scored on 35 minutes. But somehow Wolves battled back, getting three goals in 16 minutes, two from Colin Cameron and one from Alex Rae, before Henri Camara pocketed the points with just four minutes to go. Newcastle continued their strong revival, brushing aside Portsmouth 3-0 at home with goals from Gary Speed, Alan Shearer - his 10th this season in the league - and Shola Ameobi. However Blackburn's recent miserable run continued, as James Beattie and Leandre Griffit condemned Graeme Souness's men to a 2-0 defeat against Southampton at St Mary's. Souness's afternoon was made even worse after former England striker Andy Cole was dismissed for punching Michael Svensson. Current England international wonder boy Wayne Rooney was unable to celebrate his 18th birthday of Friday with a goal, as his Everton side squeezed out a 0-0 draw at Aston Villa. In the other early game, Birmingham cemented their impressive fourth spot in the league by edging a 1-0 victory away at Bolton. The goal was somewhat farcical. Christophe Dugarry charged down the right, but his scuffed cross bobbled slowly towards a crowd of Bolton defenders. However Simon Charlton slipped horribly on the rain-soaked grass and Mikael Forssell, on loan from Chelsea, reacted quickest to poke ball past fellow Finn Jussi Jaaskelainen.
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