- Goals from Rangel, Michu and a Graham own goal gave Swansea a 3-0 win
- James Morrison equalised in the 90th minute to cancel out Assou-Ekoto’s goal for Spurs and earn a 1-1 draw.
- Pienaar, Fellaini and Jelavic were on target for Everton and Villa scored a consolation goal via El Ahmadi in the Toffees’ 3-1 win.
- Di Santo and Kone gave Wigan an impressive 2-0 away win against Southampton.
- Zamora scored the equaliser against Norwich, who were in the lead through a Simeon Jackson goal. Norwich 1-1 QPR
Manchester United vs Fulham as it happened
Full-time: Ruiz gets a point-blank header on target but De Gea’s reflex save means United survive till the final whistle and get their first win of the EPL 2012-13 season. Kagawa and RVP surely impressive, but so were Cleverley and Rafael. All in all, Ferguson’s new signings seem to be gelling very well.
RVP wheels away in delight after scoring his first goal for United. AP
93 minutes: Rodallega takes a freekick from a scoring position but the wall does its job. Rooney slides in to block and Rodallega’s follow on catches him on the right thigh and cuts him open. It looks pretty nasty and if stitches are needed, then he could be out for a week at least.
90 minutes: Cleverley releases Rooney but the striker’s side-footed shot is off the mark. 4 minutes added.
85 minutes: Ryan Giggs comes on for Anderson for the last 10-odd minutes.His composure in midfield should see United off. It is a nervy affair at the moment. Rodallega getting in good areas and forcing a block from Carrick.
80 minutes: Stinger from Rafael from outside the box after Rooney’s freekick falls to him. But Schwarzer is up to the task and beats it away. Resulting corner harmless.
75 minutes: Hugo Rodallega comes on for Petric. Hangeland, who is Fulham’s wall in defence goes into RVP from behind despite already being on a yellow card. He’s lucky he didn’t get sent off there.
68 minutes: Rooney and Welbeck come on for Kagawa and Young. So there we go… Rooney and RVP in tandem.
GOAL!! 65 minutes: De Gea comes out for a cross but is nowhere near it. Vidic goes for the clearance too and the ball hits the defender’s back-heel before trickling into the net. Fulham are back in the game.
58 minutes: United have started dominating proceedings. RVP first slices the defence to find Young in space but the Englishman’s shot is blocked. United’s new signing then crosses in the area from the right and Rafael attempts a header before it could fall to the better placed Young. Too much enthusiasm from the right-back but he’s been brilliant so far.
50 minutes: Cleverley’s tackling prowess is certainly a new dimension to his game. At this rate, he should establish himself in the first-team pretty easily. He wins two back-to-back battles before releasing the attackers. A Valencia cross strikes the arm of a Fulham defender in the box but the free-kick goes against United.
Half-time: Rooney must be sweating with the type of football United have played without him on the pitch. That is exactly what the Red Devils need– a way to win without the talisman. Marouane Fellaini has done the trick again for Everton, scoring a great header as Everton cruise 3-0 against Villa. Sebastien Bassong gave away a penalty against QPR on his debut. All this action only at half-time. There’s more to come.
GOAL!! 40 minutes Fulham are getting pasted at Old Trafford!! Rafael deserves this goal. Just minutes earlier he had the ball in the net but was offside. No mistake this time as Young picks him out at the far post and the Brazilian heads it in. 3-1 to United. What a turnaround!
GOAL!!! 36 minutes: Ball breaks for Cleverley outside the box and the young midfielder takes a Scholes-esque shot, it’s saved by Schwarzer and it falls to Shinji Kagawa for a simple tap in. Turn-around complete and monkey off the back for United’s two new signings.
30 minutes: The match has slightly slowed down, but it’s Valencia and Kagawa who are really making the difference in the attacking half. Valencia takes a shot from about 20 yards out and it’s just inches over the bar. Van Persie hasn’t had much to show after the goal.
Some goals in the Norwich vs QPR match too. Jackson’s goal for the Canaries has been cancelled out by Bobby Zamora. It’s 1-1.
21 minutes: United get a freekick in a similar area from where Fulham scored. RVP takes it but it’s comfortably cleared. Kagawa is pulling the strings in midfield as Anderson and Cleverley concentrate on fall-back duty. Looks like Antonio Valencia is also fancying a few runs to the byline today… freed from his right-back position from last week.
16 minutes: Rafael is looking very sharp at right-back. He steals a ball, passes it to Valencia and tries to get on the end of the no.7′s cross. His shot is way over the bar but the intent is clear. Evra is also bombing forward at every occasion.
GOAL!!! 10 minutes: Man United have relentlessly attacked since going down. Valencia’s cross whizzed past the red shirts in the box and a corner did not get them much. But Evra’s cross comes on the bounce to Van Persie and the Dutchman bangs in a left-footed half-volley to send the Old Trafford faithful roaring in delight.
Steven Pienaar has scored for Everton against Aston Villa.
GOAL!!! 3 minutes: United concede a free-kick on the left edge of the box. The free-kick is low, Damien Duff pulls away and connects well with his left foot to put a low shot past De Gea. 1-0 to Fulham.
KICK-OFF!!
Swansea have already won their match against West Ham 3-0. Michael Laudrup’s dream start continues.
No place in the squad for Alex Buttner. The new signing has been left out but Jonny Evans is on the bench and may get a few minutes. Big news is still that Wayne Rooney is out. It is a bit of a surprise but well, it was coming.
Robin van Persie makes his full debut today. That means Wayne Rooney is left on the bench as the Dutchman will play lone striker. Antonio Valencia and Ashley Young are the wingers with a three-man midfield of Anderson, Cleverley and Kagawa
Rooney out, RVP in. AP
SQUADS
Manchester United: De Gea, Da Silva, Carrick, Vidic, Evra, Cleverley, Anderson, Valencia, Kagawa, Young, van Persie. Subs: Lindegaard, Evans, Rooney, Giggs, Hernandez, Welbeck, Scholes.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Riether, Hughes, Hangeland, Briggs, Duff, Diarra, Dembele, Kacaniklic, Ruiz, Petric. Subs: Stockdale, Kelly, Baird, Sidwell, Kasami, Rodallega, Halliche.
