Paul Scholes Shines as Manchester United March on to a Five-Point Lead

The Red Devils hosted Fulham tonight and with Liverpool hot on the heels of the current table toppers, Manchester United needed nothing else but a win to give them a comfy five-point lead.

Although a tough game against Blackburn beckons this weekend, Alex Ferguson fielded a strong team to take on Fulham, who have not won a game outside Craven Cottage this season. Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic resumed their roles as the "Immovables," no doubt giving Edwin Van Der Sar confidence that the record of 13 straight clean sheets will remain intact for another game.

John O'Shea was trusted with the right back berth while Michael Carrick and Paul Scholes took up the central midfield positions. Ji-Sung Park and Cristiano Ronaldo found themselves on the wings, while Carlos Tevez and Dimitar Berbatov found themselves with the responsibility of piercing the Fulham defence.

And it didn't take long for United to find the back of the net against a severely stretched side.

A Ronaldo cross from the right was turned away by Toni Kallio resulting in a corner. Michael Carrick swung it to the outside of the box to the awaiting Scholes who blitzed a volley towards goal.

Fulham keeper Mark Schwarzer dived to his right fantastically, only to let the ball bobble underneath him and give United the one-nil lead and the smell of blood that usually precedes even more goals.

After the goal, United pressed even further, controlling the midfield superbly. Michael Carrick and especially Paul Scholes twisted and turned the defence constantly with splitting passes.

Surely Scholes must be considered the best passer of the ball in the league still?

17 minutes in and Zamora threatened with a header at Van Der Sar's far post. Newspapers such as The Mirror laughably called the United keeper the "man that does not concede" while slating Zamora as the "man that does not score."

And true to form, Zamora endured an awful night, with Nemanja Vidic once again pouncing on any ball within his radius.

United continued to dominate, and on the 30-minute mark found their reward as the niggling Berbatov tapped in John O'Shea's flick from out wide on the right before celebrating in his usual sleepy manner...

Evra was fantastic down the left with Ronaldo, giving a strong message as to how things may be next week in the San Siro against Inter Milan. Although Ronaldo seemed frustrated and clearly wanted to add to his bulging tally, he did enough in the game to show that his amazing form of last season is slowly but surely seeping back.

Fulham could not piece together an attack as the game wore on and Scholes continued to create space and time for the attackers. Tevez fizzed, Berbatov graced, and Ronaldo danced. However it was the first touch of adopted scouse Wayne Rooney after his 60th minute substitution that put the final nail in the coffin for Fulham.

Scholes, Tevez, and Park all linked up at the edge of the box before the Korean drove a shot across the face of the goal. Rooney slipped in behind the sleepy defenders before crashing a shot into the roof of the net and past the extremely disappointing Schwarzer.

Ferguson brought on the impressive youths Darren Gibson and Jonny Evans for Michael Carrick and John O'Shea respectively, and Gibson soon sent a scorcher of a shot at Fulham's goal.

The Red Devils comfortably controlled the rest of the game, with only a Bobby Zamora flick that barely went wide threatening Van Der Sar. The Dutch keeper comically raised his eyebrows and smirked—realising that his clean sheet record nearly evaporated.

The current champions move five points clear of their nearest rivals, Liverpool, and while the lead is still a close one—Manchester United remain favourites as they march on, on, on.