Newcastle 1-2 Manchester United

The Football Association have cleared Steven Taylor and Cristiano Ronaldo over claims of a half-time tunnel bust-up.

Reports suggested the players had to be separated by team-mates as they clashed off the pitch moments after Taylor had been lucky to escape with just a booking having caught Ronaldo with his forearm during the match.

While it is understood the players did have a strong exchange of views in the tunnel, Taylor insisted he and Ronaldo were never in close contact, and the FA have confirmed they will not take any action having read referee Steve Bennett's report.

The Newcastle defender said: “There was no bust-up with Ronaldo — he was nowhere near me. I have no problem with Cristiano and I shook his hand at the end.”

Taylor's on-pitch clash with Ronaldo, though, marred a hard-fought win for United, who came from a goal down to move seven points clear of Chelsea and Liverpool with a game in hand.

Peter Lovenkrands opened the scoring after Edwin van der Sar's error ended his run without conceding a goal at 1,311 minutes before Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov struck either side of half-time.

Despite recording their 11th straight win, Newcastle's caretaker manager Chris Hughton insists United are not yet guaranteed their third consecutive title.

The former Tottenham defender said: “I don't think they're home and dry. They will be pushed all the way by the chasing teams.”

United can virtually end Liverpool's hopes with victory when the bitter rivals meet at Old Trafford on Saturday week and despite his warning, Hughton's money is still on Sir Alex Ferguson's side clinching their 11th Premier League title.He added: “With the quality they have at their disposal, I think it's going to be very difficult for the teams to catch them.”

Fulham are the next club to stand in United's way as they aim for an unprecedented Quintuple trophy haul this season.

With the Club World Cup and Carling Cup already won, United are closing in on the Champions League, Premier League and FA Cup. They travel to Craven Cottage in the sixth round of the latter on Saturday with Ferguson admitting his side rode their luck last night.

He said: “We were careless at times and we've certainly played better football this season but it's a result we have to be pleased with coming from a goal down.”

Ferguson is set to give 28-goal strike pair Rooney and Berbatov a breather at the weekend with one eye on next week's key Champions League clash with Inter Milan. The United boss paid tribute to the duo and he added: “Berbatov finished his goal very well and Wayne has a great record against Newcastle so if anyone was going to score against them, it was him.”

Ben Foster will be given another chance to impress in goal on Saturday in place of the rested Van der Sar, who was disappointed his clean-sheet run had come to end in such a poor way.

Lovenkrands' tap-in meant the Dutchman fell short of Danny Verlinden's 19-year old European clean-sheet record of 1,390 minutes for Belgian side Club Brugge.Ferguson added: “Edwin made a mess of it for their goal and he'd rather it didn't happen.

“But his run was going to come to an end sometime.”

Newcastle face a crunch trip to fellow strugglers Hull when they return to action on Saturday week after a run of one win in 10 League games which leaves them a point above the relegation zone.
Hughton backed his struggling side to beat the drop if they can reproduce the kind of display that pushed United so close.

He added: “We're at the stage of the season where we need to be putting points on the board but if we play like that for the remaining 10 games I think we can stay up.”