• United manager says he
always had faith in Berbatov
• Hodgson disappointed Liverpool failed to hold on
Sir Alex Ferguson
praised Dimitar Berbatov after the
striker's hat-trick, his first for the club, gave Manchester United victory over
Liverpool. The Bulgarian has
performed well in short periods since his £30m move from Tottenham
Hotspur in 2008, but Ferguson said he always had faith in the
striker.
Berbatov had opened the scoring
with a header from Ryan Giggs's corner, before doubling United's
lead with a brilliant overhead kick. However it seemed
Liverpool would escape with a point after drawing level
through a penalty and a free-kick from Steven Gerrard, only for
Berbatov to seal his hat-trick with an 84th minute header, his
sixth goal of the season.
"It was unexpected, a surprise attempt," Ferguson said of
Berbatov's brilliant second goal. "Not many of those go in the net
but fortunately it did this time.
"There was a lot of criticism of him last season from the media
– it happens when we buy someone for a lot of money, that's the way
of the world.
"But this season he has started off in the right fashion. He was
good in pre-season and on tour and has carried it on. There has
never been any doubt about the quality of the man."
Dimitar Berbatov seals the
win and his hat-trick
Ferguson admitted he feared United would end up with
only a point from today's game after they had thrown away a
two-goal lead for the second week in a row. Last Saturday United
had held a 3-1 lead at Everton well into stoppage time, and somehow
ended up drawing 3-3.
"From thinking to myself 'it's going to be 10' we ended up at
2-2," said Ferguson. "It was a travesty of a scoreline then – but a
great result at the end.
Ferguson also revealed Ryan Giggs and Rio Ferdinand, who was
left out, have been suffering from a sickness bug. "Ryan was ill at
half-time and was feeling really queasy," he added. "Rio was the
same last night, so we hope it's not going to spread."
Liverpool's manager, Roy
Hodgson, revealed his
disappointment that his side had left Old Trafford with nothing
after a spirited fightback in the second half.
"I thought our second half performance was good and we deserved
to get back in the game," said Hodgson. "I think we were a bit
unlucky to go two down when we did – and of course to concede late
on was tough.
"We're disappointed but otherwise I thought we made a really
good effort in the second half to get back in the game. Had we had
a little bit more composure at the end maybe we'd have seen the
game out.
"In the first half I don't think the front players received that
many balls they could deal with, more because of good defending
than anything else. But then the game opened up and there was more
excitement for the fans in the second half."
