Sir Alex Ferguson's team selection could be to blame, with the Scotsman surprising everyone by leaving out several big name players. Tim Howard, Ruud Van Nistelrooy, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane all warmed the bench for the visitors, with Roy Carroll starting between the sticks, Roy Keane playing at centre-half and Diego Forlan starting up front.

And it was Uruguayan Forlan who turned beautifully on the ball and put through Louis Saha only for the Frenchman to shoot wide for United, just 10 seconds into the game.

Cristiano Ronaldo, starting on the left, was on top form all afternoon and was a constant threat but the condition of the pitch didn't help him. He managed  to set up Louis Saha from a Roy Carroll clearance and the Frenchman corrected his mistakes from the early chance to let loose a potent shot on goal and beat former Fulham team mate Edwin van der Sar to put United 1-up after 14 minutes.

But The Cottagers had their chances to level the game in the first half. Sylvain Legwinski had a golden opportunity to pull one back before the interval from a Sean Davis corner. The Frenchman's head grazed Roy Carroll's crossbar and United produced a 'get out of jail' card.

      Half-Time: Fulham 0 - Manchester United 1

Former Gunner Moritz Volz had to put up with Cristiano Ronaldo's tricks all afternoon and bombed pass him down the flank just after the break to unleash a shot which hit the side-netting.

Ronaldo was back in the fray once again and his cross met the head of Diego Forlan. But he made poor connection with the ball and headed into van der Sar's hands.

Portuguese players were playing awfully well in this fixture and Fulham's deserved equalizer came from non-other than Portuguese international Luis Boa-Morte who linked up well with Saha's replacement Brain McBride to hammer past Roy Carroll and leave the poor Wes Brown stunned.

Forlan and Saha seemed to work well together and the Uruguayan set up Saha to go one-on-one with van der Sar in the Fulham goal. The Dutchman unfairly brought down Saha and everyone thought it was a clear cut penalty. Everyone except referee Alan Whiley.

Sir Alex Ferguson had no option to send on duo Ryan Giggs and Ruud van Nistelrooy on the 70th minute but not even they could save United's blushes.

Arsenal have more or less won the title and 2nd place Chelsea now have the same amount of points (58) as The Red Devils. Can United stay at 3rd spot until the end of the season like 2 seasons back? This story will continue for the next few months...

     Full Time: Fulham 1 - Manchester United 1
                          Att: 18, 306

Fulham: Van der Sar, Volz, Goma, Pearce, Green, Malbranque (Inamoto 80), Sean Davis, Legwinski, McBride, Petta (Pembridge 66), Boa Morte.

Man Utd: Carroll, O'Shea, Keane, Brown, Fortune, Fletcher (Giggs 72), Scholes, Phil Neville, Ronaldo, Saha, Forlan (van Nistelrooy 72).
Subs Not Used: Howard, Bellion, Djemba-Djemba.