Ferguson ready for a long fight

Alex Ferguson predicts a long, hard Premier League title race with champion Manchester City after his Manchester United team opened up a seven-point gap over rival Chelsea.

Table-topper United ground out a 1-0 victory over West Ham at Old Trafford thanks to Robin van Persie scoring the fastest goal of the Premier League season to date, after only 33 seconds.

It was the third clean sheet United has kept in domestic soccer this season and ended a worrying trend of the team having conceded first in nine of their opening 13 league games.