Re: The Barclays Premiership / Champions League Thread
Boss left feeling Blue
United had looked set to return to the Barclays Premier League’s top spot for New Year with victory at St Andrew’s, but Sir Alex was left visibly seething at the manner of the Reds’ actual ascension via superior goal difference to second-placed Manchester City.
The Reds led Birmingham by a goal to nil in a tight game against Alex McLeish’s terrier-like team, but a dubious late goal earned the Blues a point and spoiled Sir Alex’s end to 2010.
“We outplayed them in the second half and we didn’t deserve that,” he told Sky Sports. “But football is a funny game and this is a difficult place to come to. But I think we deserved to win. We were the better team.
“We maybe should have finished them off after we went 1-0 up. The number of times we counter-attacked against them, we just needed to take more care with our final pass or the finishing shot. It was just one of these days, it’s unfortunate.”
Referee Lee Mason drew Sir Alex’s ire for his decision to ignore a handball and a foul on Rio Ferdinand by substitute Nikola Zigic who, United claim illegally, teed-up Lee Bowyer’s 89th-minute equaliser.
“It was handball and a foul on the centre-half, he went right through him,” said the Reds boss. “If the referee can’t see that, what chance have you got? At this level, in a game of this importance, you expect to be given a referee that can see that.”
Sir Alex was nevertheless satisfied with his team’s endeavours. “I’ve got no complaints about my team,” he added. “They fought hard, worked hard and
