Ferguson: Fans were fanatical
Sir Alex Ferguson was disappointed with his side's performance
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By Tom Powell. |  |
Sunday, 25, Oct 2009 06:25
By Sam Ross.
Sir Alex Ferguson has claimed his side got too caught up in the atmosphere in today's clash against Liverpool at Anfield and that the passionate home fans heavily influenced the referee's decisions.
"We didn't handle the atmosphere of the game at all well," he said. "The fans were fanatical and every decision they were putting the referee under pressure all time.
"For example Evra's booking you can clearly see Torres has clipped his on heels but the atmosphere surrounding it forces the referee to book him."
The United boss also commented on some of the important decisions that referee Andre Marriner had to make and feels aggrieved that not one of them went the way of his side, he said.
"It's hard to handle for the referee, whether he has enough experience I don't know," he added.
"The referee has made one or two major decisions. I felt that the Carrick incident in the first half was a penalty kick - it was clearly over the top of the ball.
"And of course the controversial one is when Carragher took Michael Owen down on the edge of the box, he's the best defender and if he goes off then it changes the game."
But the Scot was honest in his analysis of the game accepting that Liverpool deserved the win and that United had "let themselves down".
"I'm disappointed with the performance, in the first half particular. They deserved their victory," said the United boss.
Manchester United now drop to second place - one point behind Chelsea after their impressive 5-0 victory over Blackburn yesterday.