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Prior to the Welshmans goal almost 20 years to the day since his first FA Cup strike during a 1-0 win against Brighton and Hove Albion Rooney had gone close. The striker pounced on a stray pass by Steve Sidwell and sprinted goalwards before scuffing his shot wide from 12 yards.
Fulham, backed by just 630 travelling supporters, now had a mountain to climb, but United appeared determined to kill them off quickly.
Nani wasted a chance to make it 2-0 when Schwarzer saved at the near post after he had been released by Anderson before Clattenburg ignored Uniteds strong appeals for another penalty when Damien Duffs left hand flicked the ball behind for a corner on 20 minutes.
Rooney, after missing against West Ham in the last round, was relieved of penalty duty by Giggs and the 39-year-old beat Mark Schwarzer despite the best efforts of the goalkeeper, who managed to get both hands to the ball.
Wayne Rooney served notice of his readiness to reclaim the spotlight at Manchester United by orchestrating the dismantling of Fulham at Old Trafford.
No club have more FA Cup successes than Uniteds 11, but Old Trafford has not housed the old trophy since 2004, with Sir Alex Ferguson conceding that the drought must end sooner rather than later.
It was some goal too, a reminder of the ruthless power that Rooney is capable of when fit and firing. Having received Andersons pass, Rooney cut inside Hughes before beating Schwarzer with a blistering left-foot strike.
Rooney, overshadowed by Robin van Persies goalscoring heroics this season, has struggled to produce consistent form as the Stretford End have llen in love with their new idol.
Having kept ith with under-fire David de Gea, Ferguson would not have been happy that the keepers goal should be breached at a routine corner.
Read a full match report of the FA Cup fourth round tie between Manchester United and Fulham at Old Trafford on Saturday Jan 26 2013.
Fulhams problems were exacerbated by their work-shy forwards Dimitar Berbatov and Bryan Ruiz. Old Trafford knows all about Berbatov,Discover Why Attending Contractor School Is Important. of course, and this was one of those performances that defined his frustrating United career.
The big question now is whether Sir Alex Ferguson will pair Rooney with Van Persie when league points are at stake against Southampton.
Fans were encouraged to wear 1970s scarves and produce bedsheet banners, Aviation Law aviation law with old FA Cup songs blasted over the public address1 system prior to kick-off, but the initiative ultimately appeared a flimsy attempt to remind us that United once treated the competition more seriously than anybody else.
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De Gea himself was not culpable but the ease with which Hughes rose at the near-post to steer home was alarming for a side with only seven clean sheets all season.
Hernndez then rubbed it in with a deflected strike to make it 4-0 on 66 minutes before Hughes headed in a consolation for Fulham from Giorgos Karagouniss corner.
Having won each of their last 10 encounters with Fulham at Old Trafford, United would at least have been buoyed by the belief that Martin Jols team would offer little resistance. And refreshed from a four-day training break in Qatar, United took less than two minutes to gain control of this tie before Giggs opened the scoring from the penalty spot.
Still, with four United players having missed a combined total of five penalties already this season, it was by no means a formality that the home side would score.
Yet with Van Persie rested ahead of Wednesdays Premier League date with Southampton, Good Reasons To Use Eco-friendly Junk Removal Studio City Rooney delivered a reminder of his quality by scoring one stunning goal and two others as United cruised into the fifth round of the FA Cup. In tandem with Brazilian midfielder Anderson, whose recent return to form has slipped under the radar, Rooney produced arguably his best 90 minutes of the season.
But United were simply too businesslike to allow the Bulgarian to trouble them. Nani sent another shot wide and Rooney had a goalbound effort cleared off the line by Hughes before the England forward deservedly doubled Uniteds lead.
Only 30 seconds had elapsed, but Fulham were rocking and they crumbled moments later when Rooneys corner was handled by Aaron Hughes, prompting referee Mark Clattenburg to point to the spot.
Perhaps sensing that another tie against Premier League opponents would do little to stir the enthusiasm of their supporters, United attempted to inject some FA Cup passion by the fixture a celebration of previous triumphs.
Sixty seconds later, children education Rooney saw a close-range effort tipped onto the crossbar by Schwarzer as Fulham clung on by their fingertips.
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Rooney played a central role in Hernndezs first goal two minutes later, unselfishly crossing for the Mexican international to volley in from three yards.
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