Fulham boss Martin Jol predicted that Manchester United will reclaim their Premier League title after Sir Alex Ferguson's side snatched a 1-0 win at Craven Cottage.
The Cottagers more than held their own with the league leaders, but Wayne Rooney's delightful strike 11 minutes from time bagged all three points for the visitors.
Jol's men had their fair share of chances in an entertaining contest, and Fulham's display gave their manager cause for optimism.
"We did well in midfield and at the back," Jol said. "It was one of our better performances this season.
"But they are capable of creating something out of nothing, as Rooney did. Now, I think they will win it."
Fulham suffered an injury blow with the loss of key defender Brede Hangeland to an Achilles injury, but Jol added: "Hopefully it is not a long one."
The game was disrupted by a floodlight failure three minutes before half-time, although Jol felt the delay did not affect the outcome.
"We did well to get the lights on again," he said. "Normally it takes a long time.
"I feared when we came back our concentration was down and we would end up conceding a goal but it wasn't a problem."
The Italian had put his position in doubt the day before by issuing a statement criticising off-field events at the League One club.
Swindon avoided administration after agreeing a takeover by a local consortium earlier this week.
But because the deal has yet to be ratified, the Football League refused to let three players join and star winger Matt Ritchie to Bournemouth for ?500,000 to raise funds.
When asked whether this would be the last interview he gave as Swindon chief the former West Ham ace replied: "I hope not. Tomorrow we work, Monday we work and Tuesday we play Colchester.
"We had a fantastic game, getting a good point, and had we won we would have been only two points away from the top two teams."
When pressed on whether he was immanently considering his future, Di Canio replied: "I'm focused on our next game."
Di Canio, who claimed in his statement on Friday that he felt his job "was not just impossible but untenable" refused to expand any further.
He added:"Today I'm not speaking about the statement. I'm only speaking
how proud I am of my players and how they came back."
A powerfully taken 59th minute penalty by substitute Adam Rooney extended the Robins unbeaten run to nine games after a spot kick by Billy Clarke had put Crawley ahead mid-way through the first half.
"This was a good point for us in another away game," the Italian added. "We had chances to win and came back strongly.It wasn't easy, my players game me everything and I'm more than pleased."
