Ferguson rues loss of ‘silly points’

LONDON: Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson criticised his players for throwing away “silly points” in the 2-2 draw at Fulham.

Leading 2-1, United missed a penalty and then allowed Brede Hangeland to head Fulham level in the last minute and failed to match rivals Chelsea’s 100 per cent record.

“When you get the chance to seal the game with that penalty you should be taking it,” said Ferguson. “It was a missed opportunity and it galvanised them, got the crowd up and they scored the equaliser.”

The club’s manager conceded Manchester United could live to regret their frustrating draw. He also admitted his side hardly deserved to claim all three points after failing to build on Paul Scholes’s low drive that gave the visitors a 12th minute lead and paid credit to Fulham’s resilience in fighting back.

“When we got that second goal I thought ‘we’ve escaped here’. But to miss a penalty kick to make it 3-1, you’re throwing two points away there I’m afraid. The first half belonged to us but they played better than us in the second half.”

Fulham boss Mark Hughes was pleased with his side’s showing, and admitted that the penalty-save had given his players the belief to push on and achieve an equaliser.

“It was a competitive game between two evenly matched sides trying to win,” said Hughes. “The fans will have enjoyed it and as a football person I enjoyed it.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2010.