AOB: Whites:2 Reds:0

I bigged up the Premier League last time I went to a top flight game, but now I’m afraid I feel the need to do the opposite (small it down?).

On Saturday I ventured up to the big smoke to take in Fulham v Man Utd, and witnessed a quite amazing display of behaviour from Cristiano Ronaldo. The Portuguese winger, undoubtedly one of the world’s best players, was at his petulant worst as his team slipped to a rare defeat at Craven Cottage, remonstrating with the referee and his assistants at every opportunity, going to ground at the slightest hint of contact, and generally being a big pansy.

He was lucky to stay on the field after a two footed lunge at Danny Murphy, which fortunately didn’t connect with the Whites skipper’s leg, and then had the temerity to whinge about the treatment he was getting from the Fulham defenders, bizarrely rolling up his shorts to show ref Phil Dowd his supposed injuries. Still, he’s used to showing a bit of leg after his lengthy flirtation with Real Madrid in the summer, ho hum.

CRonaldo’s antics aside, it was an entertaining match, although I possibly derived most of the entertainment value from Manchester United getting beaten and seeing Alex Ferguson getting increasingly agitated on touchline. I’ve been saying all season that United aren’t all that, and a central midfield containing the decrepit Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes is always going to be a bit vulnerable. The fact that they are top is more reflective of the inconsistency of the chasing pack than of the brilliance of Fergie’s boys if you ask me.

Not that Scholes had much time to influence this game, being shown a red card for palming away Bobby Zamora’s goal bound header. Ferguson, naturally, said the ref shouldn’t have given it, despite the fact that his player had both hands above his head. Murphy thumped the spot kick high into the net, McEvilly style. 1-0.

Thereafter Fulham dominated, with wingers Clint Dempsey and Simon Davies finding acres of space between the visiting backline and midfield. Davies extended Van der Sar with an angled shot, but Johnson couldn’t turn in the rebound, and then Zamora shot into the keepers arms when he perhaps should have done better.

Finding a more able partner for Andrew Johnson than the lumbering Zamora should perhaps be a priority for Fulham manager Roy Hodgson this summer, because in other departments his side looks pretty decent, particularly at the back, where keeper Mark Schwarzer and centre backs Aaron Hughes and Brede Hangeland stand strong like a trio of granite pillars.

Fergie introduced Rooney for the ineffective and lame Berbatov at half time, and the England striker immediately showed his class as United began to turn the screw. It’s the first time I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the England striker play in the flesh, and he was at the heart of everything good his side produced. In fact, his manager probably made an error by later bringing on Tevez and moving Rooney wide right, where he was much less effective.

Anyway, Schwarzer made a terrific double save to foil Rooney and Park, while Ronaldo twice put headers wide, before his lunge on Murphy which forced the influential midfielder to leave the field.

But as the ten men committed more and more players to the attack, gaps were always likely to appear, and Fulham exploited one of those in the dying moments to wrap up an improbable win. Dickson Etuhu fed Johnson, who got to the byline and pulled the ball back for substitute Zoltan Gera, who with his back to goal flicked the ball up and scored with an acrobatic volley. Gera has inexplicably remained in my fantasy team all season, so it was about time he repaid my faith in his talents. 2-0.

United’s misery was completed when Rooney, who had already been booked for tugging back Davies, was shown a second yellow for throwing the ball away in anger. Again Ferguson questioned the decision, but having seen replays I feel he can have few complaints.

So yeah, it was an interesting match, and again you couldn’t really argue with the skill on show. But on the other hand it is fair to say that the histrionics and disrespect for the referee shown by some of the players went far beyond what you would see at Blue Square Premier level. I guess you can’t have everything.

Man of the Match: Brede Hangeland – Fulham will do well to keep this calm, imposing, central defender, who was virtually unbeatable in the air all afternoon.