Soccer: Fergie impressed by Fulham

The Premiership newcomers may have departed Old Trafford empty-handed but Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes Fulham will prove too good for many opponents this season.

For 50 minutes at Old Trafford yesterday, Fulham threatened to cause one of the biggest upsets of the last decade and in their very first match in the Premiership.

French striker Louis Saha had put the visitors in front twice, either side of a typical David Beckham free-kick, before Ruud van Nistelrooy ended the contest with two goals in two minutes.

That Fulham ended up defeated was unlucky, and Ferguson was quick to point to the quality among last year’s runaway Division One champions.

‘‘They could be a surprise packet and they gave us such a hard time that I’m sure other teams are going to be bothered by them,’’ said Ferguson.

‘‘It was a game we were a bit fortunate to win. Saha is a real handful and he will give a few teams something to think about.’’

There were also good performances from new signings Steed Malbranque, a 21-year-old Belgian playmaker signed for £4.5m from Lyons, and Sean Davis, also 21 but who has now played for Fulham in all four divisions.

But Saha was the real star, and he struck within four minutes of kick-off, and three minutes into the second half.

Both came as the 22-year-old raced after speculative through-balls down the middle, with the striker finishing expertly on both occasion.

It has provided another headache for Ferguson, who was now seen his side go two down in the first four minutes of the friendly against Celtic and concede in the opening minute of the Charity Shield against Liverpool.

‘‘The defending seems to be a concern. There seems to be a sluggishness, a lack of awareness. It not as though teams are slicing us wide open with great passes and dribbling,’’ said Ferguson.

‘‘There’s a casualness about the defending which I hope will improve as the weeks go on.

‘‘We need to get an edge to our defending - I would expect us to last more than four minutes before conceding a goal.’’

Fulham manager Jean Tigana believes his team can cut the mustard with the leading clubs in the Premiership.

The Frenchman said: ‘‘I know my team can play against the big teams.

‘‘But we played well against Manchester United in the Cup last season and lost, we played well against Liverpool and lost, so I hope we can now perhaps play not as well and win.

‘‘Our next two games are important and I hope my players are not very tired we need a good recovery.’’

Davis, the England Under-21 skipper who created Saha’s opener, took heart from the performance.

He said: ‘‘We’ve come to the best team in the country and we’ve created a few chances. We could have gone in at half-time 3-0 up.

‘‘We’ll go into the game against Sunderland (on Wednesday) full of confidence and hope to give the fans a win.’’

Saha, scorer of 32 goals in Division One last season, relished beating Fabien Barthez twice.

The 22-year-old French striker said: ‘‘It’s like a dream to score against Fabien Barthez because he’s one of the best keepers in the world. It was a pleasure.

‘‘We’ve showed all over the pitch we play good football.’’