Sir Alex Ferguson praises Norwich display at Carrow Road

Nov 17, 2012 11:45:00 PM

The Manchester United manager expressed his disappointment at dropping three points, but says credit must be given to Chris Hughton's side and they manner in which they fought

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has praised Norwich's performance after his side's 1-0 defeat at Carrow Road.

Norwich took the lead in the second half through Anthony Pilkington's superb header and then hung on to claim a famous three points, against a relatively poor United side.

The loss knocks the Red Devils off of top spot in the Premier League and, while being disappointed with the result, Sir Alex chose to praise the hosts.

He told ESPN: "We're disappointed to lose the game obviously but we have to give credit to Norwich, the way they fought, battled for every ball on the pitch, and they defended fantastically well. The goalkeeper had a really good night also, so it's disappointing."

The United boss also hailed the quality of the Canaries' goal, which came about after a fine move and a inviting cross from Javier Garrido.

He continued: "[It was a] marvelous cross, marvelous touch for the header and nothing the goalkeeper could do about that. But as I said I think they deserved the win just simply because they worked so hard for it."

United came from two goals down to win at Villa Park last weekend and Sir Alex felt tonight could have been the same.

The Scot said: "Although we had a lot of possession and one or two half-chances without having great chances and it just wasn't our night.

"I always feel we can do that, the history of the club's like that and the players we've got are used to making comebacks, particularly in the last minutes of matches, we're always a threat."

The Red Devils were also without Wayne Rooney for the match but Sir Alex believes there was enough quality present for his side to do well.

He added: "You always miss your good players, there's no question about that, but we had plenty of good players on the pitch tonight."

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