Sir Alex Hails Players' Courage

Sir Alex Ferguson saluted the “courage” his Manchester United players showed as they overcame Sunderland 1-0 at the Stadium of Light.

Titus Bramble’s first-half own goal, a deflection from Robin van Persie’s stinging drive, was enough to secure victory over the relegation-haunted hosts, who improved after the break but failed to break down a resolute Reds defence.

The visitors lost Rafael to a groin injury in the first half and his replacement, Jonny Evans, played on after picking up a knock, while David De Gea was temporarily dazed by a clash of heads with Nemanja Vidic.

“I thought it was a battling performance by the players,” Sir Alex said. “We picked up two or three injuries along the way and courage got us through, particularly in the second half.

“In the first half we did well. In the second half you have to give credit to Sunderland – they gave it a real go. They had some fantastic crosses into the box which we had to deal with.

“But our concentration is much better. Early in the season we were losing goals but we’ve got all our defenders back now.”

The win temporarily moved United 18 points ahead of nearest challengers Manchester City, ahead of the Blues’ win over Newcastle.

It means the Reds need just four wins from the remaining eight league games, the next of which is City’s visit on 8 April, to win back a title lost in such heartbreaking fashion last season.

“The players have galvanised themselves,” Sir Alex added. “They’ve shown a team spirit and focus in every game. It’s also 25 wins in 30 league games, which is a record, and that’s all down to the efforts of the players. It was an important win."

Van Persie has stated he'll be claiming the decisive strike and, though Sir Alex isn't concerned who it's credited to, he's happy the Dutch striker is in contention after seven United games without a goal.

"There’s a case for it being an own goal but it was a wicked drive by him," Sir Alex said. "It was a fantastic shot – I don’t know whether it was going in but it was certainly too much for the goalkeeper to handle.

"Scoring for Holland in the midweek internationals helped him. When strikers don’t score for a few games they think they’re never going to; when they do it can set them off again."

Sir Alex was speaking to Sky Sports and MUTV.