WHEN Carlos Tevez scored his coruscating second goal to effectively end this match as a contest the Argentinian placed placed a hand against each side of his head and waggled them as if to make a pair of bunny ears. Where other teams have back-up players who cannot quite be trusted to be regular starters, Tevez is the rabbit Sir Alex Ferguson can pull out of his hat when one of his regular forwards needs a rest.

The strength of Manchester United’s current squad may be unprecedented in the English game; the quest United are on certainly is. Winning a quintet of major trophies remains possible — and indeed became just that little bit more likely — after Fulham were pillaged in their own stadium, where they had lost only twice all season.

Tevez led the wrecking party. Ferguson must decide in May whether to turn a two-year loan for the striker into a permanent arrangement. Doing so would cost United upwards of £30m but, on this evidence, it would be worth it. Tevez scored twice and passed up the chance to go for his hat-trick when he unsuccessfully tried to feed Park Ji-Sung on a late breakaway but it was so easy for United that it did not take long for the Korean to properly score United’s fourth goal.

Ferguson, with Wednesday’s game against Internazionale in mind, gave Cristiano Ronaldo a Saturday off and kept Dimitar Berbatov on the bench, but as Danny Murphy observed: “It’s not just their best 11 that you have to worry about, it’s their best 16 or 18 players, and that’s what sets them apart from the Liverpools and Chelseas.”

Accordingly, Ronaldo’s absence saw Anderson brought into the starting line-up and the Brazilian barrelled about inimitably, working clever passing angles from midfield. The decision to rest Berbatov had even worse consequences for Fulham — his replacement was Tevez. Fulham had started so well, invigorated by the support they received at a packed Craven Cottage and for a time, when they were finding ways to exploit Andy Johnson’s pace and movement on the counter- attack, it seemed Roy Hodgson’s men had the chance of an upset.

United looked uncharacteristically unsteady. A long pass by Simon Davies dropped over Nemanja Vidic’s shoulder and Edwin Van Der Sar was hesitant in coming to deal with it. Johnson nipped between them and flicked the ball beyond Van der Sar, forcing Vidic to scramble back and hook it to safety two yards from the goalline.

Another Fulham break involving intelligent work from Johnson found Bobby Zamora crossing for Clint Dempsey to worry Van der Sar with a header and United’s loss of composure was demonstrated by the unusual sight of Michael Carrick not only mishitting a pass but doing it so completely that the ball sailed into the stand.

Then Carrick took a corner that Wayne Rooney was allowed to reach and divert towards the back post with a looping flick-on. There, Paul Konchesky was caught not concentrating. Slow to get off the ground, Konchesky was beaten to the ball by Tevez’s leap and the Argentinian deposited a header into the net. Fifteen minutes later Tevez was found by Darren Fletcher and from just beyond the centre circle went on the charge, cutting inside Dickson Etuhu before spearing a glorious shot past Mark Schwarzer from 30 yards. The game was over and United, having recovered their strut, went into exhibition mode.

A gorgeous move featuring Carrick and Rooney finished with Schwarzer having to beat out a shot by John O’Shea. Rooney had been guilty of an embarrassing miss at 1-0, turning Park’s centre against the post when presented with an open goal, but early in the second half, under the approving gaze of Fabio Capello, the England forward struck.

Brede Hangeland’s error after just two minutes forced Schwarzer to bail him out with a fine save from Tevez but there was no reprieve second time round. In the 50th minute, on the edge of his own area, Hangeland hit a poor pass intended for Etuhu that Rooney intercepted. There was still plenty to do but Rooney did it expertly, picking his way into a pocket of space before bending a shot beyond Schwarzer. Three-nil was Ferguson’s cue to send on the kids, with Danny Welbeck and Richard Eckersley being introduced. Preparations for the Inter game were thus further aided, with Rooney and O’Shea withdrawn to keep their legs fresh. Rio Ferdinand is a concern, having limped off with an injured foot after a first-half clash with Zamora.

FULHAM: Schwarzer 7, Pantsil 5, Hughes 6, Hangeland 4, Konchesky 4, Davies 5, Etuhu 5, Murphy 6 (Dacourt 57min, 6), Dempsey 5, Zamora 6 (Gera 67min), Johnson 7 (Kamara 60min)

MANCHESTER UTD: Van Der Sar 6, O’Shea 6 (Eckersley 52min, 6), Ferdinand 7 (Evans h-t, 6), Vidic 7, Evra 6, Fletcher 6, Carrick 7, Anderson 7, Park 7, Rooney 7 (Welbeck 64min), Tevez 8

QUINTUPLE STILL ON FOR FERGIE

Sir Alex Ferguson said yesterday that there were three reasons he would retire as manager of Manchester United: if his health deteriorates, if he no longer enjoyed working and if he no longer had the ‘strength to rise to the challenges’. The biggest challenge of his trophy-laden 23-year career at Old Trafford, the Quintuple, remains a possibility after last night’s FA Cup defeat of Fulham put them on course for a 19th final — and the 67-year-old looks set to rise to it. With the Club World Championship and Carling Cup trophies already in the bag, and a place in the last four of the FA Cup confirmed, the coming week will have United focusing on the other two pieces of the jigsaw. First they host Jose Mourinho’s Internazionale in the second leg of their Champions League tie on Wednesday, having earned a goalless draw in Milan, and then have the chance of finishing off Liverpool's faltering Premier League ambitions when they meet at Old Trafford on Saturday