A goal from Wayne Rooney was the telling difference as Fulham lost a brave battle at Old Trafford.

Old Trafford hasn’t been a happy hunting ground for Fulham over the years, but few teams can boast of regular success at the home of Manchester United.

In what is one of the toughest tests of the football calendar, Martin Jol’s side made a positive start with teenage midfielder Kerim Frei showing little fear having started on the left of the Whites’ five-man midfield.

Clint Dempsey, playing a more withdrawn role, linked well with striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, while Mousa Dembélé twice broke from deep to fire wide as Fulham looked to disrupt the early momentum that had been set by the home side.

Predictably, United began to find their feet, with Wayne Rooney picking the ball up from deep and arrowing searching deliveries to the flanks. From one such move, Antonio Valencia centred from the right, where Ryan Giggs moved Mark Schwarzer into his first piece of action.

Fulham replied positively with Dempsey running at goal and driving a low strike that stung the arms of David De Gea. The American then moved the United ‘keeper into further action curling an ambitious effort from the edge of the box.

The Whites certainly threatened, but United always looked in control as Aaron Hughes and John Arne Riise both made desperate blocks during a moment of intense pressure.

Patrice Evra went agonisingly close with one acrobatic effort, while from another passage of play Rafael should have done better when well placed with Schwarzer making an easy stop to keep the Brazilian at bay.

For all their possession however, United found a resilient Fulham backline, with Brede Hangeland marshalling his team-mates with expert precision.

But with half-time a matter of minutes away, Rooney broke the deadlock when sweeping home from Jonny Evans’ determined pull-back.

The goal seemed to relax the hosts, and within minutes of the second-half Valencia went close to doubling the lead only to be denied by a brave low save from Schwarzer.

The Australian stopper made an even better save moments later, diving low to palm Young’s curled effort from the left to safety.

To their credit Fulham continued to frustrate their hosts with Stephen Kelly making one expertly timed tackle to rob Young of the ball, while Damien Duff blocked Rooney’s close range effort.

Schwarzer made a stunning double save to deny Young, with the England winger volleying at goal and then testing the Australian’s reactions with the rebound. As the ball looped up, Hangeland showed impeccable awareness to then block Giggs’ goal-bound effort.

With the game approaching the final 10 minutes, the impressive Pavel Pogrebnyak almost found the path of Bryan Ruiz with one clever pass before almost picking the pocket of former Fulham defender Chris Smalling who had just replaced Rio Ferdinand.

A late rally from Fulham offered hope of a leveller as free-kicks from Ruiz and Danny Murphy unsettled the United defence, but our title-chasing opponents held firm.