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Sir Alex Ferguson Calls For Added Time To Be Taken Out Of Referees’ Hands After Aston Villa Defeat
Scot unhappy with officials after home defeat.
13-Dec-2009 1:41:20 AM
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has called for time-keeping to be taken out of referees’ hands following his side’s 1-0 defeat to Aston Villa at Old Trafford.
A first half strike by Gabriel Agbonlahor was enough to secure victory for Martin O’Neill’s men but, speaking to ESPN afterwards, Ferguson admitted he was unimpressed with the amount of time added on after the game.
“To be honest with you it just gets to the point when adding time on should be taken out of the referees’ hands. That’s all I’m going to say on it,” explained the Scot.
“There were two stoppages of two minutes and 20 seconds and five substitutions on top of that and they only played three minutes.”
However, despite his complaints the United boss also admitted that Villa had played well although he insisted his team had deserved something out of the game for their second half performance.
“Second half I think we deserved something. First half I thought Villa played very well although there were chances at both ends. I think it was a very, very open game in the first half,” he added.
“I think they probably just shaded it in the first half, in terms of getting the goal and I think they deserved the goal as they worked hard to get it.
“In the second half we pummelled them, had a lot of good chances, but just on the day we couldn’t take them.
“They worked their socks off you have to give them full credit for that, every one of them.
“It was a big strong effort from them.”
Defeat leaves the champions three points behind leaders Chelsea but Ferguson refused to be down-hearted after the match.
“It’s not an easy league,” he concluded. “If we get to the beginning of January in touching distance of the leaders then we’ve got a great chance.”
Gill Clark, Goal.com UK
Get all the latest Manchester United news with Goal.com's Manchester United page
A first half strike by Gabriel Agbonlahor was enough to secure victory for Martin O’Neill’s men but, speaking to ESPN afterwards, Ferguson admitted he was unimpressed with the amount of time added on after the game.
“To be honest with you it just gets to the point when adding time on should be taken out of the referees’ hands. That’s all I’m going to say on it,” explained the Scot.
“There were two stoppages of two minutes and 20 seconds and five substitutions on top of that and they only played three minutes.”
However, despite his complaints the United boss also admitted that Villa had played well although he insisted his team had deserved something out of the game for their second half performance.
“Second half I think we deserved something. First half I thought Villa played very well although there were chances at both ends. I think it was a very, very open game in the first half,” he added.
“I think they probably just shaded it in the first half, in terms of getting the goal and I think they deserved the goal as they worked hard to get it.
“In the second half we pummelled them, had a lot of good chances, but just on the day we couldn’t take them.
“They worked their socks off you have to give them full credit for that, every one of them.
“It was a big strong effort from them.”
Defeat leaves the champions three points behind leaders Chelsea but Ferguson refused to be down-hearted after the match.
“It’s not an easy league,” he concluded. “If we get to the beginning of January in touching distance of the leaders then we’ve got a great chance.”
Gill Clark, Goal.com UK
Get all the latest Manchester United news with Goal.com's Manchester United page
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