Boss: It Was An Off-day

United rescued a point from a bad performance, according to Sir Alex, who was disappointed with the Reds’ lack of passing accuracy and creativity in the final third of the field.

Anton Ferdinand’s deflection from Patrice Evra’s 92nd-minute shot earned a draw, but Sir Alex was still unhappy. “We rescued a game in which we played so badly,” Sir Alex told MUTV. “Our passing was just not what I expect of the team, right throughout the game. We tried to change it round by bringing Anderson on for the second half. But we continued to give the ball away repeatedly.”

Darren Bent had given Sunderland the lead after seven minutes, with United just not at the races in the first half. Rejuvenated after the break following the introduction of Anderson, the Reds got a goal back through Dimitar Berbatov.

“It was a magnificent strike,” added the boss. “After that I thought, ‘we’re back’. I thought we were a certainty [to go on and win it]. The surge was there, the support was there, the momentum was there. Then we went and lost a really soft second goal. But credit to the players, they never give in. It’s a good quality to have. We’ve got something out of the game on a day when we’ve played really badly.”

Evra’s late intervention, therefore, was a huge relief. “There was a bit of luck attached to it, but it was a great strike from Patrice,” continued Sir Alex. “He got in the box and was prepared to have a crack.

“Of course, it could [have been a damaging defeat]. It’s always disappointing not to win your home games. We didn’t make a lot of chances in the game, and I didn’t think our quality in the final third was good enough to create chances. We have to say it was an off day. You get them sometimes, we don’t enjoy them but you do get them.”