Mixed Emotions For Sir Alex

Sir Alex Ferguson was pleased to see United beat Manchester City in the FA Cup third round but, at the same time, lamented his side’s inability to kill the game whilst holding a three-goal advantage.

The Reds raced to a convincing half-time lead at the Etihad Stadium thanks to Wayne Rooney's double and Danny Welbeck’s neat finish. And with the opposition downgraded to 10-men following Vincent Kompany’s dismissal, the tie appeared to be over.

After the match, the boss admited his side showed a level of “carelessness” that allowed City to re-establish a foothold on proceedings with individual strikes from Aleksander Kolarov and Sergio Aguero sparking fears of a dramatic comeback after the break.

“I think we made them look better than they were,” Sir Alex told ITV and MUTV. “We just had a carelessness in the second half. The problem was, we were 3-0 up at half time and we thought we were through and they took our foot off the pedal.

“We lost possession just after half time; they got a free-kick and scored. They went into a defensive formation and you have to give them full credit for that. They waited and waited, hoping we would make mistakes and we did make mistakes, which made it a scoreline that it shouldn’t have been.

“The game happened in three phases; first we scored the opening goal which was terrific as were going to be very difficult to beat from that point. The sending off was obviously next, which was a two-footed tackle and we were lucky because if Nani gets contact then he’s got a real bad problem.

“But I think the referee was right in that instance. The third phase was when we were 3-0 and should have been home and dry. We made mistakes and you suffer if you make mistakes. That’s really what I thought about the game.”

Victory at the Etihad is a welcome boost for United following the woes of the 6-1 derby defeat earlier this season. It also ends any chance of the Reds recording a third successive defeat in light of disappointing losses against Blackburn Rovers and Newcastle over the New Year period.

Although the boss, ever the perfectionist, believes the performance could have been better and has played down the win's significance on the rest of United’s season.

“I don’t think it does us any good at all today. It was a careless performance in the second half and we should have been home and dry. We had a clear scoreline but we were too careless and that’s the area where, if we keep doing that, we will make mistakes.”