Robin van Persie was "relieved" to have made amends for his lackadaisical penalty by netting a hat-trick for Manchester United on Sunday.
In the Premier League clash at Southampton, the Holland international looked to have cost his new team a point after wasting a chance to level in the second half with a cheeky attempt that was saved by Kelvin Davis.
Van Persie managed to avoid Sir Alex Ferguson's wrath by scoring twice late on to earn United a 3-2 victory, but knows his mistake almost cost them.
"I am so relieved," he said. "When I missed the penalty, I was so gutted.
"I try to keep a certain standard in my game and that is not part of my ID, that standard.
"I will play football well, respect it and something went wrong there.
I wanted to hit it high and in the corner like I always do so something went wrong.
"It is just me to blame and I am so relieved that we got the three points.
"I had a couple of chances. I missed a couple too, which is part of the game. I am very relieved to make up for my mistake."
While van Persie's performance took the headlines, he was quick to praise the impact of Paul Scholes.
Ferguson highlighted the veteran midfielder's 61st-minute introduction as the game-changing moment and former Arsenal striker van Persie wholeheartedly agreed.
"Scholes is a world-class player," van Persie said. "You could see when we were 2-1 down, when he came on every single pass he got spot on from 30 or 40 metres. Short passes as well and because of him we won the game.
"When he came on, he changed the game so he is my man of the match."
Source: team talk
Source: team talk