Fulham Thrash Manchester United 3-0

Craven Cottage was the scene as the London club Fulham gave Manchester United their heaviest league defeat of a season that is slowly beginning to look a little shaky for the champions. United are aiming for a record 4th consecutive Premier League title and are finding the going a little tough off late, as their defensive injuries are beginning to take a toll on the team.

Fulham have been in good form off late, and completed a memorable week as they clinched qualification for the last 32 in the Europa League, and gave United a firm lesson to not get too complacent. United's tormentor Danny Murphy (a former Liverpool player) scored the opener in the first half, and in form Bobby Zamora added a second right at the start of the second half. The impressive Damien Duff capped a fine evening for Fulham, who are now up to 9th in the table. Roy Hodgson, the manager of Fulham, acknowledged that United were far from their best and this was the perfect time to play them.

For Sir Alex Ferguson's men, this defeat could have been worse as Chelsea could have gone 6 points clear if they had beaten West Ham United at Upton Park. Fortunately for them, that match ended all square at 1-1, so Chelsea are still only 4 points ahead. Heading into the busy Christmas schedule, United need to put a consistent winning run in place if they seriously aim to retain the title.

Injuries to as many as 7 first team defenders can be blamed to a certain extent, but the manager's decision to play a back three of Michael Carrick, Darren Fletcher and youngster Ritche Da Laet spectacularly backfired. The entire team played a very bad game, and the most worrying thing is that Fulham could have scored more. The season is still one game short of the halfway point, and United have already lost 5 of their games. But the fact that United are still trailing only by 4 points emphasizes the fact that this seasons title race is very open, while it also highlights Chelsea's shortcomings.

The biggest gainers were Arsenal who beat Hull City 3-0, and moved up to 2 points behind United. They have a game in hand, and if they win that they will replace United in 2nd spot. The most concerning thing for United is the lack of creativity and firepower up front, and this is a problem that Sir Alex has to fix by buying some players in the January transfer window. Reportedly, he is lining up a 50 million pound bid for Valencia's world-class attacking duo - David Villa and David Silva. If he manages to pull this off, United will regain their fearsome stature, and definitely look to a happier second half of the season. Next up for United is Hull City, a game they need maximum points from to pull themselves out of the gloomy situation they find themselves in.