Sir Alex Rues Missed Chances

It is a measure of Sir Alex Ferguson’s resolute commitment to winning that, even with a 20th title in the bag, he appeared irked by Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Arsenal on Sunday as he bemoaned a host of missed goalscoring opportunities and a smattering of yellow cards against the Gunners.

The Reds played out an entertaining, feisty stalemate with Arsene Wenger’s side at the Emirates Stadium in United’s first match as champions, and Sir Alex said: “We expected a tough game and we got a tough game.”

He continued: “[The match] swung back and forth. In the first 20 minutes, we were surprised by Arsenal’s aggression and some of their tackles. That put us on the back foot. We probably had the best chances – we had four fantastic chances from headers. We went through time and time again in the last third of the field and perhaps with a bit more composure we would have won the game.”

Arsenal certainly played their part in the contest. “If we had taken one or two of our chances we would have won comfortably,” added the boss. “We always looked a bigger threat, but that’s not to take away from Arsenal putting a lot into the game. They worked their socks off and credit to them.

“Arsenal had fantastic pace, they were really aggressive and put in a lot of tackles. I think the referee just couldn’t keep up at that point. Then when we had a foul he booked us right away.

"We had five players booked. We have one of the best disciplinary records in the country, probably the best record. For Manchester United to have five players booked, I don’t think that’s right.

“But in the last 20 minutes the game was end-to-end stuff. The best chances definitely fell to us and we should have done better with them. Arsenal are fighting for a place in the Champions League and we expected a real challenge to us. We got one.”

Sir Alex was speaking to Sky Sports.