Giggs: We Should Have Won

Gordon Strachan’s side took the lead early in the first half after Scott MacDonald lobbed Ben Foster to open the scoring for the home side.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the game, Giggs admitted that the Red Devils had had to raise their game at half-time. He said:  “It’s frustrating, we were disappointed first half with our performance. Second half to be fair we came out, we worked hard, just kept Celtic pinned in. We knew the chances would come. It’s just about taking them really.”

Yet Celtic defended their lead stubbornly in the second period and United wasted a number of excellent opportunities to equalise. The Welshman paid tribute to the home side’s defending and also his own side’s refusal to give up.

“They got men behind the ball and defended. We just knew that we had to just keep on trying to create chances,” explained Giggs before adding, “Keep the tempo going and that’s what we did to be fair.”

The holders finally managed to level the match with seven minutes remaining, Giggs heading home after Ronaldo’s shot had been parried, a goal he confessed he had been fortunate to score. He said: “I just gambled really and lucky for me it fell to my head.”

United continued to press in the closing stages but had to be content with a draw. However, Giggs insisted his side had deserved more from the game. The winger admitted: “I think with so little time to go obviously you settle for a draw. But the way we played, the tempo of our game we probably deserved to win.”

The result keeps the Red Devils at the top of the group and Giggs revealed that despite not claiming victory, he was still confident of qualifying. He concluded: “I think we came up here to win but we go on to the last two games knowing that we can qualify.”

Gill Clark