Source: Team_Talk
Ferguson rues Nani penalty miss
Sir Alex Ferguson criticised his players for dropping "silly points" after Manchester United were held to a captivating 2-2 draw by Fulham.[LNB] United, missing Wayne Rooney because of a virus, suffered an early slip in the Premier League title race when Nani missed an 87th-minute penalty that would have secured a 3-1 lead.[LNB]Nani's effort was well saved by David Stockdale and in the final minute Brede Hangeland, whose own goal had nudged United ahead, nodded home the equaliser.[LNB]"When you get the opportunity to seal the game with that penalty you should be taking it," Ferguson told MUTV.[LNB]"It was a missed opportunity and it galvanised them, got the crowd up and they scored the equaliser in the end.[LNB]"When we got that second goal I thought 'we've escaped here'.[LNB]"But to miss a penalty kick to make it 3-1, you're throwing two points away there I'm afraid.[LNB]"You don't want to be dropping silly points and we dropped silly points today. We can't escape that.[LNB]"There was an opportunity to go 3-1 ahead with three minutes left and we didn't take it."[LNB]Ferguson's frustration at failing to join Chelsea at the top of the table was tempered by the admission Fulham deserved a point from an enthralling contest.[LNB]An ominous start from United saw Paul Scholes fire a powerful 25-yard drive in the 11 minute only for Simon Davies to equalise in emphatic fashion during a second half controlled by the Cottagers.[LNB]"In fairness to Fulham they were the better team in the second half. I don't think we deserved to be in front at 2-1," said Ferguson.[LNB]"They caused us a lot of problem, particularly Bobby Zamora who was very good for them. We can't complain in terms of the run of the game."[LNB]Ferguson added: "We've seen that before from Paul - he's done that so many times.[LNB]"Once again it was an outstanding performance from him. It's just disappointing we didn't ram home the advantage."[LNB]Ferguson questioned why Nani and not fellow substitute Ryan Giggs stepped up for the ill-fated penalty.[LNB]"I thought Ryan should have taken it," said the Scot.[LNB]"In the last game we played against Tottenham at home Ryan scored two penalty kicks and Nani was on the pitch the same day. Maybe Ryan should have taken it."[LNB]Ferguson confirmed that Rooney, who has gone 13 games for club and country since his last competitive goal, was ruled out through illness.[LNB]"Wayne has a virus. The problem is he turned up yesterday with it and he had no chance in 24 hours," said Ferguson[LNB]"If it had been a Thursday or Friday we may have been able to patch him up.[LNB]"Sometimes these viruses are 24-hour things and that could have been the case but there was no attempt to see if he could recover from this."[LNB]Fulham had Stockdale's reflexes to thank for keeping them in contention but boss Mark Hughes was wary of lavishing praise on the 24-year-old.[LNB]Arsenal target Mark Schwarzer, who has handed in a transfer request, failed to recover from his back injury so Stockdale continued between the sticks.[LNB]"Stockdale has done very well, he's a good young keeper," said Hughes.[LNB]"We're pleased with what he's producing at the moment but it's always difficult for young keepers.[LNB]"They get by initially on enthusiasm, but can they keep it up over time? We've got to be careful with him."
