Mixed Emotions For Sir Alex

While elated to have snatched victory in the Manchester derby, Sir Alex Ferguson was left with mixed emotions after missing out on the chance to rout the Reds' near neighbours.

Having seen his side shoot themselves in the foot three times, and ultimately require a 96th minute winner from Michael Owen, the Boss saw much to savour, but also plenty to lament in the Reds' performance.

"I don’t know where you start," he told MUTV. "At the end of the day we’ve had a fantastic performance. We made three horrendous mistakes - mistakes you don’t even half-associate with our team - and it kept them in the game.

"Every time we scored, we made a mistake and let them back in the game. If you do that you can end up losing the match. Fortunately we’ve got the break. Michael Owen scored a fantastic winning goal, and we deservedly won the game.

"I am unhappy, because (the defensive errors) spoiled a really emphatic victory. We could have won 6-0 or 7-0 today, and the fact we made those mistakes made it probably the best derby game of all time. You’re left pondering what you’d rather have; win 6-0 or win the greatest derby game of all time. I’d rather win 6-0!"

The most hyped Manchester derby in decades lived up to all its pre-match billing in terms of thrills and spills, but Sir Alex felt his side's dominance - particularly in the second half - was the perfect riposte to City's vocal ambitions of overtaking United as the premier side in the city, and ultimately the country.

"For us it’s unusual to accept that they’re top dogs in terms of media attention," he said. "But sometimes you have a noisy neighbour and you have to live with it. You can’t do anything about them, they keep making noise, but what you can do - as we showed today - is you can get on with your life. Put your television on and turn it up a bit louder!

"As far as the players are concerned, today they showed their playing power. Second half, we were outstanding, absolutely magnificent. I’ve got to cling onto that performance as the real playing power of Manchester United, and that’s the best answer of all."