Ferguson gripes after thrilling United win
Source: AFP |
December 28, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
MANCHESTER United's 4-3 victory over Newcastle United opened a seven-point gap at the top of the Premier League table, but the news was not all positive for Alex Ferguson and his team.
The veteran manager revealed after the game that Wayne Rooney has a knee ligament injury that will sideline him for up to three weeks, having already ruled him out of an amazing game that saw Newcastle take the lead on three occasions, only to lose to Javier Hernandez's 90th-minute winning goal.
Ferguson, too, may yet suffer repercussions in the wake of the contest. He marched onto the field before the second half kicked off and remonstrated with referee Mike Dean, assistant Jake Collin and fourth official Neil Swarbrick over the decision to award the visitors a second goal after 28 minutes.
Dean overruled Collin, who had initially flagged to disallow the goal because Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse was in an offside position when Danny Simpson crossed for Jonny Evans to put through his own goal.
"I think it was a bad decision," said Ferguson. "He (Dean) has not got the benefit of a replay, which I had, and could see it was a mistake. Mike Dean said it was an own goal so it didn't matter that the player was offside, but when you see the video replay, he (Cisse) is certainly interfering with the play. It's clear. The linesman correctly flagged for offside because Cisse was in an offside position when the cross was made and he also pulled Jonny Evans' arm.
"If that's not interference, then what is interference? That was the point I was making to Mike Dean."
The Premier League issued a clarification, backing Dean's decision, and explaining that "as Cisse did not play the ball, then he was not interfering with play". The league added: "It is also the case that Cisse didn't interfere with the opponent."
The FA said no action would be taken against the United manager because Dean made no reference to the confrontation in his report on the match.
That second goal restored Newcastle's lead after Evans himself had equalized James Perch's opening goal.
Patrice Evra scored a second equalizer for the home side, with Cisse handing Newcastle the lead for a third time, which was cancelled out by Robin van Persie before Hernandez settled the affair for good.
The last three seasons have seen the team leading the table at Christmas go on to win the title and United's seven-point advantage looks commanding.
"It's only the courage of the team that has got us out of it again. Some of the football in the second half was phenomenal in these conditions - really great.
"The statement was the performance, never mind where we are at this moment in time. That was a championship performance."
Second-place Manchester City lost 0-1 at Sunderland with its former winger Adam Johnson scoring over the champion. Chelsea is four points behind City with a game in hand after Juan Mata clinched a 1-0 victory at Norwich.
Liverpool's attempt to close in on the Champions League places stalled again after losing 1-3 at Stoke and dropping to 10th, eight points behind the top four.
Tottenham, Everton and West Bromwich Albion are all two points behind Chelsea.
The veteran manager revealed after the game that Wayne Rooney has a knee ligament injury that will sideline him for up to three weeks, having already ruled him out of an amazing game that saw Newcastle take the lead on three occasions, only to lose to Javier Hernandez's 90th-minute winning goal.
Ferguson, too, may yet suffer repercussions in the wake of the contest. He marched onto the field before the second half kicked off and remonstrated with referee Mike Dean, assistant Jake Collin and fourth official Neil Swarbrick over the decision to award the visitors a second goal after 28 minutes.
Dean overruled Collin, who had initially flagged to disallow the goal because Newcastle forward Papiss Cisse was in an offside position when Danny Simpson crossed for Jonny Evans to put through his own goal.
"I think it was a bad decision," said Ferguson. "He (Dean) has not got the benefit of a replay, which I had, and could see it was a mistake. Mike Dean said it was an own goal so it didn't matter that the player was offside, but when you see the video replay, he (Cisse) is certainly interfering with the play. It's clear. The linesman correctly flagged for offside because Cisse was in an offside position when the cross was made and he also pulled Jonny Evans' arm.
"If that's not interference, then what is interference? That was the point I was making to Mike Dean."
The Premier League issued a clarification, backing Dean's decision, and explaining that "as Cisse did not play the ball, then he was not interfering with play". The league added: "It is also the case that Cisse didn't interfere with the opponent."
The FA said no action would be taken against the United manager because Dean made no reference to the confrontation in his report on the match.
That second goal restored Newcastle's lead after Evans himself had equalized James Perch's opening goal.
Patrice Evra scored a second equalizer for the home side, with Cisse handing Newcastle the lead for a third time, which was cancelled out by Robin van Persie before Hernandez settled the affair for good.
The last three seasons have seen the team leading the table at Christmas go on to win the title and United's seven-point advantage looks commanding.
"It's only the courage of the team that has got us out of it again. Some of the football in the second half was phenomenal in these conditions - really great.
"The statement was the performance, never mind where we are at this moment in time. That was a championship performance."
Second-place Manchester City lost 0-1 at Sunderland with its former winger Adam Johnson scoring over the champion. Chelsea is four points behind City with a game in hand after Juan Mata clinched a 1-0 victory at Norwich.
Liverpool's attempt to close in on the Champions League places stalled again after losing 1-3 at Stoke and dropping to 10th, eight points behind the top four.
Tottenham, Everton and West Bromwich Albion are all two points behind Chelsea.
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