English Premier League: Ferguson left ruing Hernandez’s injury blow

United manager reveals striker may be out for a month as Villa beaten 1-0.

BIRMINGHAM: Despite registering a 1-0 Premier League win over Aston Villa, Sir Alex Ferguson was left ruing Mexico international Javier Hernandez’s ankle injury suffered during the match, which could rule the striker out for all of next month’s fixtures.

Hernandez tore ligaments in his ankle and was stretchered off early in the first half after collapsing on the turf and landing awkwardly, with no Villa player near him. Ferguson admitted the 23-year-old is unlikely to play again this year.

“He’s torn ligaments in his ankle and will be out for three to four weeks,” said Ferguson. “It’s a bad time for us but it’s just as well that we’ve got a strong squad.”

Ferguson will also be without Michael Carrick in their Champions League clash against FC Basel on Wednesday.

However, the United manager was relieved to get back on track after his League Cup embarrassment against Crystal Palace on Wednesday. Phil Jones’ first senior goal meant Ferguson has lost only once in his last 17 Premier League games.

“We had great possession but at times we were a bit wasteful with chances in the second half,” he said. “Jones showed great movement for the goal, it was a great cross from Nani, and a fantastic finish.”

Aguero, Balotelli were  fantastic: Mancini

Meanwhile, Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini was delighted at the 5-1 thrashing his team gave to Norwich to maintain their lead at the top of the league.

Goals by Sergio Aguero, Samir Nasri, Yaya Toure, Mario Balotelli and Adam Johnson completed the rout for City, with Mancini acknowledging the convincing show put up by his players.

“It wasn’t easy in the first half because Norwich defended with all their players behind the ball but Aguero scored a fantastic goal,” he said. “The goal Balotelli scored was fantastic too because it was the only way he could score.”

‘Arsenal can improve further’

Arsene Wenger insists there is still room for improvement after his Arsenal side extended their recent revival with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Wigan. The win was Arsenal’s sixth win in seven league games.

“There’s a difference between the team at the start of the season and now but we can still improve,” he said. “It was a good team performance defensively and offensively. The team are growing and getting better and better.”

Spurs record sixth straight win

Elsewhere, Tottenham’s sixth straight league win was made easier by Bolton having defender Gary Cahill sent off — a red card that surprised Spurs’ manager Harry Redknapp as much as Owen Coyle in the opposition dugout.

“It was a huge surprise,” said Redknapp. “I didn’t see a red card coming, I thought he was going to give Gary a yellow.”

Meanwhile, Blackburn thrashed Swansea 4-2 and QPR drew 1-1 with West Brom. AFP

Published in The Express Tribune, December 5^th, 2011.