Boss Savours Derby Winner

Sir Alex Ferguson believes Wayne Rooney’s acrobatic winner in the Manchester derby is among Old Trafford's greatest ever goals – and comparable to some of those scored by the manager's boyhood hero Denis Law.

Rooney dealt the decisive blow in the 77th minute of an enthralling local derby, after goals from Nani and David Silva had deadlocked the score at 1-1.

Speaking after the match, Sir Alex was at a loss to recall a better goal at M16 and was keen to point out the similarities between Rooney and Law. “Wayne hit a volley against Newcastle some years ago that had the same ferocity and we’ve of course seen some excellent goals here, but in terms of execution you’ll never see any better.

“I have to say it reminded me of him (Law) when it went in, but whether or not Denis hit them in with such ferocity I’m not so sure. It was unbelievable. I haven’t seen anything like it before, that’s for sure. It was absolutely stunning, unbelievable.”

In stark contrast to the 0-0 draw in the derby at Eastlands earlier this season, the game was an end-to-end affair as both sides went for the jugular. However the boss was confident United more than deserved the win.

“I thought City made a bright start and got behind Patrice Evra a couple of times with Toure and Silva, who caused us a bit of bother at times. But from the 15th minute onwards I felt we played some fantastic football.

“The width in our game was terrific, Ryan Giggs had enough composure to take the ball in tight situations and Nani was threatening all the time,getting by players, shooting on goal and putting in some great crosses. I thought we deserved to be in front at half-time.

“In the second half City made a change by bringing Wright-Phillips on which I think helped them on the right side of the pitch but nothing really bothered us. They got a lucky break when Dzeko’s shot deflected off Silva’s back and that moment gave them the impetus.

“We decided to go for it and brought Berbatov on. He made a difference in the sense of his control and we had some really good chances to get that second goal. At 1-0 we had two fantastic chances to score but then came the winning goal from Rooney.”

Victory for United moves the Reds eight points clear of the Blues with a game in hand – a massive blow to the local rivals' title hopes this season. However Sir Alex is adamant Roberto Mancini’s men can't be ruled out yet.

“They’re still in it. They are in the top four, they’ve got a big strong squad and they’ll win more games than you might think. They want to be in the top four and that’s to our advantage to keep them in that.”