LONDON:
Sir Alex Ferguson insists Manchester United will recover from the worst result of his career after the Premier League champions were thrashed 6-1 by Manchester City at Old Trafford.
Table-toppers City are now five points clear of bitter rivals United after a remarkable day in the history of both clubs. Ferguson, who blamed the defeat on the dismissal of defender Jonny Evans, expects United to bounce back in the League Cup tie at Aldershot today.
“I’m shattered, I can’t believe it,” said Ferguson. “It was an incredible disappointment. It was hard to believe we were 1-0 down but that’s retrievable. The sending-off was the killer blow. After that we kept attacking. It’s alright playing the history books but common sense has to come into it. When we went to 3-1 and 4-1, we should have settled for that.”
The mood was clearly different in the City camp with manager Roberto Mancini saying that Mario Balotelli has the ability to become one of the world’s leading players if he curbs his off-field behaviour.
“I hope for him, for football, we arrive at the day when Mario has changed his mind because with this he could become one of the best three players in the world, like Lionel Messi, like Cristiano Ronaldo,” he said.
Villas-Boas risks FA’s wrath
Andre Villas-Boas risks an FA charge after he delivered a critical assessment of referee Chris Foy during Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat at QPR.
The match official dismissed Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba for first-half fouls after awarding the home side a ninth-minute penalty that was converted by Heidar Helguson. Villas-Boas revealed he confronted Foy after the game. “The referee was poor,” he said. “I spoke to him and I was very aggressive. I don’t care if he’s okay or not.”
Published in The Express Tribune, October 25th, 2011.
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