United produced very little and after the home side had taken the lead, Robin van Persie was introduced to the side but he did not get anything off the rest of the team to do anything with.
Ferguson told reporters after the game: “We played around him too much, we didn’t show enough penetration and with Robin in your team you know you want to use his ability against centre-backs in situations he is very good at. But we didn’t use him enough."
Ferguson explained his decision to start van Persie on the substitutes bench.
“He’s not played any football, given the expectation of him playing at any given moment, it was better for him to start on the substitutes’ bench,” he said.