Ferguson blames defending for loss

The Red Devils went down to a second-half Yaya Toure goal at Wembley, while midfielder Paul Scholes was dismissed with 18 minutes remaining for an ugly challenge on Pablo Zabaleta.

Toure's goal was the result of a costly blunder by Michael Carrick, and manager Ferguson admits his men were not tight enough at the back early in the second half.

He told MUTV: "The first 15 minutes after half time cost us the game.

"Slack moments. Edwin [van der Sar] had a bad kick out and Michael Carrick couldn't hold it and it was a goal.

"From then on, they were defending apart from a couple of counter-attacks. It's disappointing as we should've been ahead in the first half as we were the better team."

Dimitar Berbatov missed two chances in quick succession early in the opening half, and Ferguson knows things could have been very different had the Bulgarian been on target.

He said: "The chance that Dimitar missed - there was a great save by the keeper but the second chance, from under the bar, if he'd have scored there, I had a feeling whoever scored first would win the match."

Ferguson also admitted Paul Scholes had another of his "red-mist moments" after the midfielder was sent off midway through the second half.

Scholes was dismissed for a thigh-high lunge on Pablo Zabaleta as United tried to fight their way back into the game.

Ferguson insisted Scholes' sending off "didn't kill the game" because the 10 men piled on the pressure in the closing stages.

But he added: "We've seen over his career Paul has had unbelievable moments - he's one of the greatest players this club has ever had.

"But he has his red-mist moments - he caught the boy on the thigh."

The defeat ended United's hopes of securing a much-coveted Treble this season, although Barclays Premier League and UEFA Champions League success is still in their sights.

And Ferguson has urged them to stage a quick recovery when they travel to Newcastle in the Premier League on Tuesday.

"It's a major game on Tuesday up at Newcastle," he added.

"We're getting recovered to get ready for the game on Tuesday. It doesn't matter when you play, you know you've got to recover and get on a winning streak again."



 By

http://watchersnplayers.hpage.us/