Sir Alex Ferguson believes Cristiano Ronaldo's late winner at
Fulham could be a turning point in the race for the Premiership
title.
Ferguson's side are now nine points ahead of second placed
Chelsea after Ronaldo hit his 16th goal of the season with just two
minutes remaining at Craven Cottage.
"We scored so late on, it could be significant," Ferguson said.
"We are in a fantastic position but we have some difficult away
games left.
"Liverpool will be hard for us next week. I am not saying we are
going to win but I know for certain we will not play as badly."
United had fallen behind when Brian McBride took advantage of a
mix-up between goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar and Nemanja Vidic to
fire home after 17 minutes.
Ryan Giggs equalised in the 29th minute when he volleyed past
Jan Lastuvka from Wayne Rooney's cross.
It took until the 88th minute for a below-par United to snatch
the winner when Ronaldo's surging run and shot, which deflected off
Philippe Christanval, sparked wild celebrations among Ferguson and
his players.
Ferguson added: "Ronaldo was fantastic and showed courage. I
don't know how many times he was fouled, but he kept going and he
deserved man of the match and the goal."
Chelsea, who face Arsenal in the League Cup final on Sunday,
have a game in hand on United, but they could be 12 points behind
by the time they play their next league match at Portsmouth on
Saturday as the leaders face Liverpool earlier the same day.
Charlton boss Alan Pardew told his players not to let their
standards slip after they boosted their survival bid with a 4-0
rout of his former club West Ham.
Pardew was sacked by the Hammers in December and replaced by
former Charlton boss Alan Curbishley.
But a Jerome Thomas double and goals from Darren Ambrose and
Darren Bent gave him a measure of revenge as they closed the gap on
fourth bottom Wigan to three points.
Chinese international Zheng Zhi joined the action as a late
substitute in the 82nd minute, but missed his first goal-scoring
opportunity in the Premiership by nodding Thomas' corner kick off
the crossbar in injury time.
Pardew said: "The performance was good but today the win was
all-important no matter how it came. We've set our standards for
the rest of the season with this win.
"It's been a difficult day, a difficult week leading up to it
for me because I have a genuine love for West Ham and their fans
which will never die."
Curbishley has won just one league game since taking over but he
was given a vote of confidence after the match when West Ham issued
a statement saying his job was safe.
Curbishley said: "I'm as devastated as the fans are. We are
getting problems time and again but West Ham were losing games
before I came and I just haven't been able to change it.
"The question is are we going down with a fight or a whimper?
There are still 10 games left, lots of points at stake. The first
thing would be to get a settled side and a result."
Sheffield United manager Neil Warnock accused Steven Gerrard of
diving to win the penalties that set up Liverpool's 4-0 win over
the Blades at Anfield. Warnock said: "I told him I was disappointed
with him. He was looking at the referee Steve Bennett, almost
asking for the penalty.
(China Daily via AFP February 26, 2007)