Fergie: It should have been more



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Posted Monday, January 23, 2012 by The Sun

Fergie: It should have been more
HARD LUCK ... Alex Ferguson consoles Arsene Wenger after the game

ALEX FERGUSON was delighted with Manchester United's 2-1 win over Arsenal — even if his troops should have killed the game off more easily.

Goals from Antonio Valencia and Danny Welbeck shot down the Gunners, who saw Robin van Persie equalise in the second half.

Old Trafford boss Ferguson said: "We created an amazing amount of chances and to only score two is a bit disappointing.

"We should have rammed home our advantage in the first half, and in the first 15 minutes of the second half they had three great chances and missed them all, so we rode our luck.

"When they put Mertesacker up and kept tossing the ball into the box, you never know what's going to happen but we coped well with that, Chris Smalling was fantastic in that period and we managed to see it out."

Victory was crucial after City earlier beat Tottenham 3-2 with Mario Balotelli's last-minute penalty.

Ferguson added: "Winning after City had won was the important thing but we've done it in the right way.

"We were really adventurous, positive and had a great belief in ourselves."

Captain Patrice Evra agreed, saying: "City won against Tottenham but we had to focus on ourselves, and it was a great win today.

"We are still behind City but we have to keep winning games.

"I am really confident in team, everybody is working hard and when we play with the Man United spirit, it is difficult to beat us.

"It was a good performance, we want everything perfect and in the second half there were 15 minutes when Arsenal played very well.

"We kept strong, had a good shape and scored a nice goal. We got the three points and that is really important if you want to win the title."

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger blamed a single mistake for United's late winner.

He said: "We had a difficult first half, we were a bit nervous due to the fact we lost the last two games and we played under pressure today.

"In the second half we had chances to win the game, we made a defensive mistake on the second goal but we had a good second half and at 1-1 it looked like it would be us to win."

Defeat leaves Arsenal five points adrift of Chelsea in the chase for the final Champions League place but Wenger said: "We are in a fighting position, let's be inspired by the second half today."

Wenger's decision to replace Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who set up Arsenal's goal, with Andrey Arshavin in the second half drew an angry response from the Emirates Stadium crowd — and captain Robin van Persie.

But Wenger said: "He started to stretch his calf and he had given a lot, he is not used to that intensity."



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