Sir Alex Ferguson brushed off Cristiano Ronaldo’s petulant
reaction to his substitution at Old Trafford and said it was
exactly what he wanted.
Ronaldo was substituted an hour into Sunday’s 2-0 win over
Manchester City after earlier driving home a 30-yard free-kick to
put the Red Devils in front.
The win took United to within four points of an 18th league
championship, although it did not seem the 24-year-old World Player
of the Year was in much of a mood to celebrate, swiping angrily at
a chair as he made his way off the field before sitting in the
dug-out shaking his head.
It could be viewed as an attack on Ferguson’s authority,
although if it was, the United boss did not seem to mind.
“It is great that he wanted to play on,” said Ferguson. “It is
fabulous.
“But I have to look at the big picture. He produced an
incredible performance against Arsenal on Tuesday. He ran his socks
off.
“Now I have Wednesday and Saturday to look after. There is no
problem.”
Ferguson was in no mood to discuss the Carlos Tevez situation
either.
In an interview published on Sunday morning, Tevez admitted his
United days were almost at an end, with the Old Trafford hierarchy
not even making an offer to keep him when his loan deal expires in
four games’ time.
Ferguson still picked the Argentina star and was rewarded with a
superb goal just before the break.
Tevez reacted by ignoring all efforts at a communal celebration,
running to the dug-out where he cupped his hands round his ears in
order to listen to the celebrations as, directly in front of him,
Ferguson looked on.
“If he keeps scoring there will be absolutely no problem,” said
Ferguson before declaring, “nothing has changed” when asked if
there had been any developments on the Tevez contract
situation.
City boss Mark Hughes may well be an interested party if Tevez
does eventually leave Old Trafford.
By then the South American should have another Premier League
title in his collection, with United now just four points away.
A win at Wigan – where they lifted the trophy last season – on
Wednesday, will leave them needing just a point against Arsenal on
Saturday to clinch their record-equalling 18th championship.
“We have three days to prepare for a hard game at Wigan,” said
Ferguson.
“I will freshen the team up a bit. I have a big squad, so I will
use it.”
Ferguson will check on Rio Ferdinand in the morning after the
England defender was ruled out by a calf injury picked up in
training.
Jonny Evans is also a doubt after suffering a minor hamstring
strain after originally shrugging off the effects of a sickness
bug.
Hughes, meanwhile, questioned referee Chris Foy’s decision to
award the free-kick to United which led to Ronaldo opening the
scoring.
It came after Stephen Ireland had been pulled up for a challenge
on Dimitar Berbatov.
Tevez increased City’s misery by extending the lead and Hughes
said: “I am disappointed with the award of a free-kick for the
first goal. I thought Stevie had won the ball.
“The free-kick gets a little deflection off Nigel de Jong but it
was still a good strike, so you have to give (Ronaldo) credit.
“We are thinking we can still get something out of the game but
get caught out on a long ball.
“Berbatov shows good control and he sets up Tevez. It was an
outstanding strike for the second one. We felt hard done by as it
was not a fair reflection on the game.”
Hughes added: “We knew the second half would be difficult as
United can get people behind the ball and play counter-attack.
That’s what they did.
“We did not ask enough questions of them. We did not have that
presence needed. We had a lot of possession but there was not much
of an end product.”