Brede Hangeland salvaged a point for Fulham against
Manchester United in a 2-2 draw at Craven Cottage when the defender
headed a 90th-minute equaliser after scoring an own goal just moments
earlier.
United had only themselves to blame for dropping two
points after Nani missed an 86th-minute penalty that would have given
the visitors a 3-1 lead and almost certainly guaranteed victory.
Earlier
Sir Alex Ferguson's team had appeared to be in complete control of the
game when Paul Scholes confirmed his excellent early-season form by
scoring his 150th goal for United in the 12th minute.
But Simon
Davies levelled for the home side in 57th minute and Hangeland managed
to cancel out his own goal to ensure Mark Hughes avoided defeat in his
first home game as Fulham boss.
It was a result which will leave
Ferguson rueing the concession of early ground to reigning champions
Chelsea, who have begun their defence of the title with successive 6-0
victories.
Wayne Rooney was missing from the United line-up
having been forced to withdraw because of illness, prompting Ferguson to
pair Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez up front.
And, while
United missed Rooney's more direct approach, the forward duo initially
linked effectively during an opening period that should have seen the
visitors establish a more commanding lead.
As it was, Ferguson's
side had only one goal to show for their early efforts, a typically
outstanding long-range effort from Scholes.
The goal came
immediately after Berbatov had conjured the first real chance when he
leapt acrobatically to volley from 11 metres only to see his effort
tipped over by home keeper David Stockdale.
Fulham's reprieve lasted less than a minute as, from the resulting corner, Valencia picked out Berbatov with a low cross.
The
Bulgarian's first touch laid the ball back into the path of Scholes and
the midfielder struck first time with a low drive from 23 metres that
arrowed into the bottom corner.
Fulham's response had been
limited and for 25 minutes last season's thrilling journey to the Europa
League final seemed a very distant memory as Hughes's side fought to
establish a foothold in the game.
However, there was evidence of
the threat they would pose in the second period when Dickson Etuhu
forced an outstanding double save from United's former Fulham keeper
Edwin van der Sar.
Etuhu played a neat one-two with Bobby Zamora
before forcing his way into the box and after blocking the midfielder's
first effort, van der Sar reacted superbly to tip the follow-up over
the bar.
Fulham began to dominate midfield after the restart,
negating the influence of Scholes and Darren Fletcher in the central
areas and finding more space down either flank.
And the
57th-minute equaliser came when Damien Duff tricked his way past Patrice
Evra and played in Zamora whose pull back was crashed home by Davies.
An
apparently comfortable victory had turned into a desperate fight to
avoid defeat for Ferguson's side but they stood firm and eventually
restored their lead thanks to Hangeland's error.
The Fulham
defender was unable to pull his shin out of the way as Nani's corner
swung into the home area and the ball dribbled agonisingly over the lead
with six minutes remaining.
Two minutes later United should
have made sure of the points when Duff handled, only for Nani to fire
the resulting spot-kick too close to Stockdale.
The miss proved
costly with Hangeland making up for his earlier mistake by heading the
equaliser in the final minute of normal time.