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Scot Ferguson said that Cottagers goalkeeper Antti Niemi had cheated referee Rob Styles into making the decision after he had come off his line and obstructed the Portugal international, who jumped out of the Finn's way.

"The penalty-kick incident is the result of a perceived idea of the referee that Ronaldo dives, there's no question about that," Ferguson told Setanta.

"In this case the goalkeeper has conned the referee. There's no question the goalkeeper got Ronaldo booked. Why would he dive? It's a ridiculous decision.

"All goalkeepers would try that and it's up to the referee to interpret it. It was a wrong decision, simple as that."

Ronaldo scored either side of half-time with a rasping drive and downward header, meaning he would have been able to complete his hat-trick from the spot if a penalty had been awarded.

Ferguson was happy enough with the team's performance as the prolific forward line of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez again displayed fluidity with Anderson adding guile from midfield.

"It was a comfortable 2-0 win even though Fulham had a lot of possession in the game," he continued.

"It was a reasonable performance. When we put our foot on the gas, we looked as if we could score goals all the time.

"There were too many chances missed."

United move second in the Premier League table above Chelsea and are now three points behind leaders Arsenal.

Jonathan Symcox / Eurosport