Cruise control fails to fire up Ferguson
Two goals from Dimitar Berbatov kept United in first and neighbours City at bay, although the home team should have won far more easily than the two goals the Bulgarian eventually claimed.
And while the veteran manager believes his side are hitting their stride at the perfect time in their attempt to wrestle the league title back from Chelsea, he did also admit the failure to kill off Steve Bruce’s team was a disappointment.
“Absolutely. We hit the bar, the post, the goalkeeper made a couple of saves, and we had some really good football, some exciting stuff,” Ferguson said.
“The first half was the game. We were fantastic, it could have been any score.
“The second half we put the tools away a bit, maybe they were saving their legs. They knew (next opponents) Birmingham’s game was off and maybe that gets to their minds. We were very economical second half, put it that way.”
Despite the relative disappointment expressed by the manager, there was no doubting just how emphatic the manner of United’s superiority was and, after seeing his team stretch their unbeaten league record to 22 games, Ferguson could hardly be too disconsolate about his team’s form.
“We’re coming into good form,” he acknowledged. “The last few weeks we have played some very good stuff and had that consistency, particularly defending. We were solid at the back, these are good signs for us, and it’s important to get that.”
United now travel to Birmingham tomorrow and visiting manager Alex McLeish was on hand at Old Trafford after his team’s visit to Everton was postponed yesterday morning.
Ferguson hopes to have Nani available for the game and could have Darren Fletcher also competing for a midfield place should he continue his recovery from a cold-like virus.
“I took Anderson off, took Ryan off,” he explained. “We’ve got a game in two days’ time. Birmingham have not played, so they’ll be nice and fresh.
“Darren Fletcher had a bit of a cold. He came down with it this morning and we couldn’t take any chances. Nani has been feeling his hip the last few days, so we left him out but he should be ready for the Birmingham game.
“They will be fresh and going there is always difficult. They’ve always had a strong home record, they’re difficult to beat on their own ground. We’re well aware of that.
Hopefully we can get them fresh, get their recovery sorted, make a couple of changes to freshen that part up and hopefully get the result we want.”
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