Source: Daily_Mail
Man Utd 2 Sunderland 2: Fat ref jibe is an attempt to mask United's poor form
Only a former Manchester United player like Steve Bruce can get away with calling Sir Alex Ferguson 'The Ayatollah' and still live.
Only Ferguson can blast a referee's fitness levels and get away without a Football Association charge.
And only Manchester United can play this badly and get away with a result because of the pressure they put on visiting teams in injury-time.
Ayatollah was used as a mark of respect by Sunderland manager Bruce towards Ferguson after his side fell an agonising 90 seconds short of a famous victory at Old Trafford.
United were awful for long periods yesterday and it was Sunderland who provided most of the attacking football and goal chances.
Yet, the champions still scrambled a result as they often do - deep into Fergie-time. Patrice Evra's 92nd minute shot was heading wide until a desperate late lunge by Sunderland defender Anton Ferdinand diverted the ball past Craig Gordon for an own goal.
While everyone else connected with Manchester United celebrated wildly, substitute Rio Ferdinand looked at the ground in sympathy for his unlucky younger brother.
Bruce, who started the United tradition for late Old Trafford goals with two famous headers against Sheffield Wednesday that provided Ferguson with the momentum to win his first title in 1993, was still numb an hour after the finish despite a glass of wine in his former manager's office.
'How many times do United do that? I'd love to see the stats,' he said in disbelief. 'It is why United are who they are. It is the mark of champions and the Ayatollah is sitting up there watching it all. That is what he brings to the club.'
Sunderland will also point to playing the last seven minutes a man down, after the already-booked Kieran Richardson - another United old boy - was sent off for kicking the ball away. 'It was stupid of Kieran - it is hard enough playing at Old Trafford with 11 men, never mind 10,' added Bruce. 'Whether we would have held out anyway, we will never know.'
Ferguson couldn't, and didn't try to defend United's mediocre performance, instead blaming the referee for not adding enough time on to cater for his lack of fitness.
And there were no kind words for Ben Foster, who was culpable for Sunderland's second goal and is running out of chances to be regarded as the long-term goalkeeping answer for United and England.
'It was a soft goal to concede,' admitted Ferguson, turning down the chance to protect his player by saying he had been fouled by Jones' leading arm.
Bruce was adamant. 'There was nothing wrong with the goal. It was a great leap, no problem.'
United will lose their position at the top of the Premier League today if Chelsea beat Liverpool but Ferguson should be happy to have got anything out of the game.
In front of England manager Fabio Capello, who had hot-footed it to Old Trafford after attending the Bolton - Tottenham 2-2 draw, Darren Bent did his World Cup chances no harm with a terrific spin and shot past Foster from 20 yards to put Sunderland ahead after seven minutes.
It was his seventh goal of the season and his fifth in the past four games.
Bruce added: 'Darren must be in with a squeak, surely? He is an English goalscorer and there are not many of them about. I hope for the boy that he's picked. He's doing exactly what we brought him here for.
Darren Bent gives Sunderland a shock lead at Old Trafford
'When you look at the leading scorers in the Premier League, he is up there with all the big boys like Torres, Drogba and Rooney.'
United spent the remainder of the first half in some sort of stupor and Paul Scholes was hauled off during the interval for Anderson. The improvement wasn't immediately obvious but a moment of class from Dimitar Berbatov after 51 minutes gave them a lifeline.
After Craig Gordon had kept out Wayne Rooney from close range, the ball returned to John O'Shea on the right flank.
The Irishman teased a cross to the far post and Berbatov connected with a technically flawless overhead kick that sailed into the corner of the net.
Poor Foster then had his moment of upset in front of Capello. Andy Reid chipped to the far post and while the England keeper and Nemanja Vidic dithered, Jones powered between them to head in.
Foster might have felt Jones used an arm to block his jump but Bruce was having none of it.
Predictably, United kept Sunderland penned back, aided when Richardson foolishly kicked the ball away for the umpteenth time as a delaying tactic and saw red.
Vidic went close with a header but when the ball arrived at substitute Michael Carrick's feet, he had the presence of mind to tee up Evra for the last-gasp shot that squeezed in via Ferdinand's boot.
'We have got something out of a game where we have played really badly,' said Ferguson. Mr Wiley may look a little puffy round the edges but today he probably feels that he was used as a diversionary tactic for Ferguson, whose team might miss Cristiano Ronaldo more this season than they would care to admit.
MAN UTD (4-4-2): Foster; O'Shea, Vidic, Evans, Evra; Nani, Fletcher (Carrick 71), Scholes (Anderson 46), Welbeck (Valencia 71); Rooney, Berbatov.
Subs: Kuszczak, Ferdinand, Brown, Fabio Da Silva,
Booked: Scholes, Fletcher.
SUNDERLAND (4-4-2): Gordon; Bardsley, Turner, Ferdinand, Richardson; Malbranque (McCartney 86), Cana, Cattermole, Reid (Henderson 74); Bent, Jones (Campbell 84).
Subs: Fulop, Nosworthy, Da Silva, Healy.
Booked: Bardsley, Ferdinand. Sent Off: Richardson (85min).
Referee: A Wiley (Staffordshire)
