Fergie rages as proud Euro run is halted
MANCHESTER UTD (0) vs BESIKTAS (1)
SIR Alex Ferguson insisted Manchester United had been robbed by a questionable refereeing decision after his youthful side succumbed to a European home defeat for the first time in more than four years.
Group B whipping boys Besiktas, already consigned to bottom place, ended the 23-match run courtesy of Rodrigo Tello’s deflected first-half strike. But Ferguson was furious that substitute Patrice Evra was denied a late penalty when he burst between two defenders and appeared to be obstructed.
“It’s a penalty kick. That’s two games in a row they have denied us stonewall penalties but what can you do about it?” said the United manager. “In the second half they Besiktas went very defensive, they stopped the game and played out time. It’s difficult for young players to understand that, but it’s a good experience for them.”
United, who featured eight changes from the team that beat Everton at the weekend, enjoyed the lion’s share of possession but failed to create the proportionate amount of clear chances.
“It was a stellar performance in terms of the flow of the game,” Ferguson added. “We’ve shown some really good things tonight and that’s encouraging but at the end of the day we just didn’t get the result we needed.”
United’s first defeat in the group stages at Old Trafford since 2001 damaged their pride but barely affects their Champions League prospects.
A point in their final match against Wolfsburg will still ensure they take top spot. Tello’s 20th-minute effort came against the run of play and gave goalkeeper Ben Foster little chance after taking a nick off left-back Rafael da Silva.
Summer signing Gabriel Obertan probed but to no avail and it needed the introduction of Evra and Michael Owen to liven the home side, who were enraged to be denied a spot-kick when the Frenchman tumbled.
Veteran Besiktas keeper Rustu Recber proved their hero in the dying stages when he acrobatically stopped headers from Federico Macheda and Wes Brown.