Fulham took the lead after just 22 minutes through
Danny Murphy to leave United's makeshift defence reeling.
Bobby Zamora doubled the advantage a minute after the
break and Damien Duff wrapped up the victory with a glorious
left-foot volley 15 minutes from time.
Crippled by injuries, Ferguson had no choice but to
play Ritchie de Laet alongside Michael Carrick at the heart of his
defence.
But the inexperienced pairing could not handle the
threat posed by Zamora and Clint Dempsey.
And it was little surprise to see Fulham inflict the
champions' fifth defeat of the season — opening the door for
Chelsea to pull further away at the top of the table.
As early as the 17th minute, the Cottagers looked
capable of breaking the deadlock thanks to a wonderful move started
by Dempsey.
The American floated in a long pass to Zamora who
expertly chested the ball down into the path of Zoltan Gera, only
for the Hungarian to shoot too close to Tomasz Kuszczak.
Fulham only had to wait until the 22nd minute to storm
into the lead.
Darren Fletcher passed to Paul Scholes but the former
England midfielder was too slow in reacting, allowing Murphy to
snatch the ball from his feet and fire a 30-yard effort into the
net.
Zamora should have made it 2-0 but nodded Gera's
precision cross wide from six yards out after outjumping
Fletcher.
United's problems deepened a minute into the second
half when their patched-up defence was unpicked once more.
Duff supplied the cross to the far post where Dempsey
was able to deflect the ball into the path of Zamora, who rifled
home from close range.
In desperate need of inspiration, a lacklustre United
threw on Dimitar Berbatov for Darron Gibson and switched to a
three-pronged strike force.
Needing a third goal to kill off United, who were
showing tentative signs of a fightback, Duff obliged in the 75th
minute.
The visitors failed to clear their lines, allowing the
brilliant Zamora to set-up Duff to smash home from 15 yards.
Delirious Fulham fans chanted "We want four, we want
four" and Zamora would have obliged had Kuszczak not made a superb
late save.
Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes,
Hangeland, Konchesky, Duff (Greening 76), Murphy (Dikgacoi 80),
Baird, Gera, Dempsey, Zamora (Nevland 90). Subs Not
Used: Zuberbuhler, Riise, Etuhu, Smalling. Goals: Murphy
22, Zamora 46, Duff 75.
Man Utd: Kuszczak, Fletcher, De Laet
(Fabio Da Silva 58), Carrick, Evra, Valencia, Scholes, Anderson,
Gibson (Berbatov 58), Owen (Welbeck 72), Rooney. Subs Not
Used: Foster, Park, Tosic, Obertan.
Booked: Scholes.
Att: 25,700
Ref: Howard Webb (S Yorkshire).