Five Reactions To United's 5-0 Win Over Fulham

Manchester United extended their unbeaten run in the Premier League to eight games, as they cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Fulham at Craven Cottage, but was it their best performance of the season.

Performance Enhancing

Reds had lots to cheer & celebrate at CC

United looked to be finally starting to click through the gears, as they started playing some lovely football - both attack and defending. There wasn't a bad performance by any player in the famous Red shirt, which hasn't been said too often this season. Ryan Giggs and Anders Lindegaard were the only two changes that Sir Alex Ferguson made to his starting XI from the previous two matches, and both of those players helped United not miss a beat against Fulham. The former extended his record of being the only player to have scored in the Premier League season, while the latter has yet to concede a goal in any of his Premier League appearances in 2011/12.

Injury concerns heighten
If you thought that it couldn't get any worse, think again. Not only did Phil Jones go off with a suspected broken cheekbone, but Ashley Young, who replaced him, is out until after the New Year, as well. Jones has been one of the most vital players to the United squad this season, so to lose him for any length of time would be a huge blow to the club - especially if the reports of him being out six weeks is true. Even though he may be on the outside looking in, Young still holds a vital place in the squad, too, because during the busy winter season, he would be able to play into form.

Nani and Valencia's influence
Earlier in the season, Sir Alex said that the creative play for United is not in the center of the park but down the wings - and that was again evident in the win against the Cottagers. In the last few games, Nani and Antonio Valencia have been in blistering form on separate flanks, but against Fulham they showed just how lethal they can be together, as well! Nani registered two assists and also scored a rare headed goal, which gives him five assists and three goals in the last three games. Valencia, who played more than an hour at right-back against Fulham, notched an assist to Dimitar Berbatov, which gives him five, as well.

Taking chances
Over the last three games, United have scored 11 goals, which is showing that they could be getting back to form that had the Premier League shaking in their boots in August. The Reds have been creating the chances, and against Fulham they created 18 more, but it was taking five of their eight shots on target that was most impressive. Ferguson will be best pleased, because the goals were also spread throughout the team, as five players tallied goals. When a team has multiple players getting the confidence of scoring goals - especially three forwards - then the manager has a welcomed selection headache.

Center-back Pairing
Rio Ferdinand, who has been nothing short of outstanding in the last three or four Premier League games, missed the game and is ruled out of the Boxing Day match against Wigan Athletic. However, the way that Chris Smalling and, yes, Jonny Evans played alongside each other was a joy to watch. Yes, it was against Fulham, who are tied for the fifth worse offensive production in the league, but they handled the job at hand, which is all you could ask of them. Smalling and Evans both made timely blocks and cleared the danger Fulham possessed, which always going to be a big ask, especially with the Reds scooting forward every chance they got.