Evra Takes The Positives

Patrice Evra is taking the positives from the disappointing 1-1 draw with Newcastle at Old Trafford.

Demba Ba's hotly-disputed penalty leveller was a source of great frustration for the home fans and players but the French full-back felt the side started to show some of the attacking sparkle that was so evident at the start of the season. Indeed, he is convinced if the champions keep playing in the same manner, then the title can be retained next May.

"I'm very frustrated we didn't win," Evra told MUTV. "I think we deserved the win. It's a draw but you have to take the positives and I think the manager has mentioned that as well. I think the team has not played that way for a long time and created so many chances. If you want to win the league, you have to score more goals.

"Against Arsenal, we created eight chances and scored eight. Today, we had maybe seven chances and only one goal. Sometimes, that's football - it's very strange. It's frustrating but it's a positive game for Manchester United.

"At the start of the season, we did very well - scored a lot of goals and conceded a lot of goals," he explained. "After the big accidents against City, when they scored six goals, we decided to defend better and we know, if we have a strong defence, we're going to win games. It's why we looked like the old United when winning 1-0 every time and winning the league in the end.

"Today, we looked more like we played at the beginning of the season and I know we're going to score more than one goal per game. There's big frustration as I definitely wanted to finish that game being just two points behind City but the league is a marathon not a sprint.

"There's a long way to go and I'm confident if the team keeps playing that well, I'm convinced we're going to win the league."

Evra was clearly disappointed with the penalty decision but refused to be too critical of referee Mike Jones, who took advice from his assistant before pointing to the spot.

"No, it wasn't a penalty," he stated. "I think it was a difficult decision against us but the referee was responsible and he went to see the linesman to say: 'Are you sure?' He said: 'Yes, it's a penalty' and the referee trusts his man. What can you say? We have to be more focused on how many chances we missed."