Manchester United's Sir Alex Ferguson Raises Glass To Ryan Giggs

Ryan Giggs' ability to continuously churn out exemplary match winning performances seemingly belies his increasing years, and despite being one day short of his 36th birthday, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has once again lavished praise on his experienced midfielder.

Giggs was at his productive best as he produced a number of key passes, was an all-round nuisance in the final-third, and topped his performance off with a goal in the 87th minute to round off a 4-1 win over Portsmouth.

Despite Wayne Rooney's hat-trick, Ferguson was keen to ensure Giggs' efforts were not swept aside as easily as Portsmouth were at Fratton Park.

"He's an exceptional player," the Scotsman is quoted as saying by the official website of FIFA. "A rarity. He will play for two years yet.

"Happy birthday. He's had it 36 times in his life, wait until he gets to 67. I think he'll be retired by then."

Three of the goals at Portsmouth arrived from the penalty spot, with the one United conceded a cause of contention in the mindset of Ferguson. Kevin-Prince Boateng scored and, during the build-up, Nemanja Vidic was alleged to have pulled the shirt of Frederic Piquionne, leading to the award of a spot-kick.

"The linesman has put the referee under terrible pressure and he has to listen to the linesman who is 50 yards away," said Ferguson, who was reduced to watching from the stand as he served the first of a two-game touchline ban due to his comments aimed at referee Alan Wiley.

"You see these things every weekend in the penalty box. If you are saying everyone who wrestles at a corner or tugs at a jersey concedes a penalty kick then that's fine. But it doesn't happen that way and this linesman has changed the whole course of normal decision making.

"So it was a very disappointing result for us to get a penalty against us in that situation. Half-time came at a good time for us and the important thing was to keep our discipline and composure and play our football."

Regarding Wayne Rooney's hat-trick, Ferguson added: "With strikers you always want them to score, he's got the matchball which is nice."

Alan Dawson, Goal.com