Manchester United suffered their second Premier League defeat in eight days after slumping to a crushing 3-0 loss to Fulham on Saturday. United coach Alex Ferguson once again had to field a makeshift defense due to the absence of Jonny Evans, John O'Shea, Gary Neville, Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown - who are all injured. Fulham took the lead midway through the first half when midfielder Danny Murphy robbed Paul Scholes before drilling a low shot past keeper Tomasz Kuszczak. Bobby Zamora added the second one minute after the restart with a close-range effort after Clint Dempsey deflected a Damien Duff cross into his path. Winger Duff wrapped up the victory on 75 minutes with a superb volley as United, who also lost to Aston Villa last Saturday before beating a weakened Wolverhampton side in midweek, failed to put pressure on leaders Chelsea. Chelsea can extend their advantage to six points if they beat West Ham United on Sunday. Earlier in the day, 10-man Liverpool's misery was compounded after a 2-0 defeat at bottom club Portsmouth. Goals from Nadir Belhadj and Frederic Piquionne condemned Liverpool to their seventh league defeat.