Sir Alex Ferguson praised his players for emerging triumphant
from a hugely important week, having reached the Champions League
final and moved to within four points of the league title.
Sandwiched between two 2-0 victories against Middlesbrough and
Manchester City in the league, the Reds earned a place in the
Champions League final in Rome with an outstanding 3-1 win at
Arsenal. “I have to congratulate my lads,” said Sir Alex. “We’ve
had a great week, but a hard week with the programme we’ve had. So,
well done lads.”
United rarely looked troubled against City, but Sir Alex
admitted he didn’t particularly enjoy the game. “We didn’t play
well today,” he said. “Derby games can be that way, they can be
horrible. I think we got a horrible game today. City didn’t look
like scoring. They had one chance from Robinho in the second half,
but apart from that there weren’t really any chances. Our second
goal just killed the game. We settled for 2-0, and the lads made
sure that we didn’t lose the game.”
Next up for the Reds is the league game in hand against Wigan on
Wednesday. “It’s a hard game and we only have three days to
prepare,” added the boss. “I’ll freshen my team up. We’ll make two
or three changes again. We need to do that, to keep the squad
playing. I’ve got a big squad, so I will use it.”
Rio Ferdinand, who missed Sunday’s derby with a calf strain,
could return at Wigan but Sir Alex will want to ensure the hugely
influential centre-back is fit for Arsenal’s visit on Saturday.
“We’ll see if he’s fit for Wednesday, and certainly for Saturday
against Arsenal.”