Updated: 2007-12-04 10:05

LONDON - Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice as Manchester United beat Fulham 2-0 on Monday to climb to second in the Premier League.

Arsenal, who won 2-1 at Aston Villa on Saturday, lead with 36 points from 14 matches with a game in hand. United have 33 points, Chelsea 31 and Liverpool, who have also played 14 games, and Manchester City are on 30.

Ronaldo opened the scoring at Old Trafford in the 10th minute, volleying the ball into the top corner from Nemanja Vidic's header. It was his 12th goal of the season and seventh in the league.

The Portugal winger, second to Brazil's Kaka for the Ballon d'Or at the weekend, struck again 13 minutes into the second half when he rose above defender Dejan Stefanovic to head substitute John O'Shea's cross past keeper Antti Niemi.

Carlos Tevez could have had a hat-trick in the first half, twice heading wide inside the six-yard box and twice forcing point-blank saves from Niemi.

"We missed too many chances," United manager Alex Ferguson told Setanta television. "When we put our foot on the gas we looked like scoring all the time.

"Niemi made a fantastic save in the first half from Tevez," he added, praising the Finn for a series of fine stops.

RONALDO BOOKED

Fulham were on the back foot for the first half hour but then Danny Murphy forced a diving save from Edwin van der Sar.

Striker Shefki Kuqi should have equalised two minutes before the interval when the Finn headed over with the goal gaping.

Wayne Rooney, returning after a month out through injury, fluffed a good chance from a low pass by Tevez after 66 minutes.

Ronaldo looked set for a hat-trick 11 minutes from time but after appearing to have been brought down by Niemi he was booked for diving.

"The keeper conned the referee. Ronaldo had no reason to dive, we were ahead and he was on a hat-trick, it was a ridiculous decision," Ferguson said.

The victory was United's seventh in a row at home in all competitions.