Giggs Rues Bad Luck

Ryan Giggs bemoaned bad luck and decisions that went against United in the 2-1 defeat to Sunderland in the first leg of the Capital One Cup semi-final.

The Welshman’s own goal that gave the Black Cats a first-half lead came from a free kick that the Reds had disputed, while the winning penalty was awarded when the referee’s assistant flagged after Tom Cleverley challenged Adam Johnson.

“I thought both decisions were harsh,” Giggs told MUTV. “I thought the first one was a free kick to us but saying that, we still have got to defend the free kick. We got punished for that, but we were getting back into the game with a great header from Nemanja [Vidic] and it looked like there was only going to be one winner. We created enough chances, but unfortunately the decisions went against us.”

As for the bad luck, the 40-year-old could point to his shot which hit the crossbar and the Adnan Januzaj ‘goal’ that was ruled out for offside because the teenager’s initial effort had hit Giggs. However, Ryan is confident that the Reds can shake off the disappointment of this result in the second leg on 22 January.

“We did not have that little bit of luck, I hit the crossbar and Adnan hit a shot against me when I was offside. On another day that would have gone in or been given, but it just did not go for us tonight. We’ll keep plugging away and we’ll look forward to the second leg. We are still in it, and we look forward to it at Old Trafford.

“We were quite happy with our performance, we felt we did enough to at least get a draw, although I think we can work on the quality of our crosses and shots when we get into the final third.

“The only chances they (Sunderland) really had were set pieces. It was just one of those nights.”