Rio Savours 'Massive' Win

Rio Ferdinand was delighted to secure a "massive" win over Liverpool and help take United to the top of the Barclays Premier League.

Wayne Rooney's double took the Reds a point clear of Manchester City - whose game in hand is at Aston Villa on Sunday - and Ferdinand felt his side were in total comfort until Luis Suarez's late consolation goal.

"It was massive," Rio told MUTV. "We've not had great results against them in recent years and this is an important point of the season in which to get this result. We're all happy.

"We wanted to win, we got a great draw last Sunday against Chelsea. Today it's great to get the three points and carry on from there.We controlled the whole game, especially the second half. It was almost like a walk in the park at times. But that happens in these games.

"You have moments like that but you have to always be aware the other team has quality on their team. Saying that, it wasn't a great goal from them. We should have dealt with the first ball in and we didn't. But in games like this the result's the most important thing.

"We just have to take care of our own results. If we continue doing that we've got a chance. We're not worried about what everyone else is doing. We're just concentrating on ourselves and want to continue getting three points."

Unfortunately, United's victory was marred by the ongoing spat between Patrice Evra and Suarez, with the Uruguayan refusing to shake the Frenchman's hand ahead of the game; a decision which provoked a similar response from Ferdinand to Suarez.

"I thought it was bad decision-making from their guy," said Rio. "It's a touchy subject at the minute and things could have been put to bed a little bit easier if the handshake had been done.

"After seeing what I saw I decided not to shake his hand. He's not got the respect the he needs to have in these situations and acknowledge he's made a mistake and say sorry. I lost all respect for the guy after that.

"It could have been resolved today, maybe, between the two people who are involved. After this, it's not great. It's disappointing. I expected more from the other guy but it wasn't to be.

"There are a lot of things going on both on and off the pitch. But the result was the most important thing. To win the game... unbelievable atmosphere. I thought both sets of fans were good. That was pleasing. Hopefully we can talk more about the football."