Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was somewhat disappointed with what he described as a careless performance by the Premiership champions as they were pegged back to a 1-1 draw by their local rivals at Old Trafford.
United captain Roy Keane was sent off late on after Steve Howey had leveled the game to earn City a precious point in a game which United controlled without ever really threatening.
The home side took the lead from the penalty spot in the 70th minute as Teddy Sheringham succeeded where Paul Scholes had failed 11 minutes earlier.
The United manager explained that he felt his team had not played at their best, despite having the lion’s share of possession.
“We were in control for 80% of the game but we were careless,” Ferguson said.
“We were careless with our passing, it was sloppy, and we’ve paid the price for it.
“The first 10 minutes they could’ve been 2-0 up,” he continued.
”They’ve hit the bar and Wanchope went through, rounded the goalkeeper and hit the side netting, but they weren’t really in the game after that.
”But you expect a lot of teams to do that here – that’s the norm – so really it’s a matter of us having to break it down.”
United did eventually break down City’s resistance, although it took two penalties before they took the advantage.
Paul Scholes pushed his 59th minute penalty wide and goalkeeper Fabien Barthez appeared to be offering his services for the second spot-kick after Richard Dunne clipped Ole Gunnar Solskjaer just inside the area.
However, Teddy Sheringham stepped up to narrowly slot the ball past City keeper Carlo Nash.
After the game, Sir Alex was asked what his goalkeeper was doing in the opposition’s penalty area.
“He wanted to take it,” Ferguson said of the Frenchman.
“That was the debate - age prevailed. So long as somebody puts it in the net I don’t care. I wouldn’t hesitate to let him take a penalty.”
The United manager has a long-time friendship with his counterpart Joe Royle and he has already said that he would like to see City stay up as they fight against relegation to Division One.
However, Ferguson was not underestimating the task City face to ensure Premiership survival.
”It’s very difficult when you’re down the bottom of the league, you need wins,” he said.
”A point today is maybe better than they thought they were going to get but with three games to go, they need to win really two of them at least – and that’s hoping Middlesbrough and Coventry drop points.”
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