Fergie relieved to hold on
28 Feb 2007 - 08:38:22
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was preparing for extra time after watching his side hold on to beat Reading 3-2 in an extraordinary FA Cup fifth round replay at the Madejski Stadium.
Three goals in the opening six minutes by Gabriel Heinze, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer had given United an amazing 3-0 lead.
But the Royals hit back and goals by Dave Kitson and Leroy Lita made it 3-2 before Brynjar Gunnarsson cracked a shot against the crossbar in the dying seconds.
"I was thinking to myself I need to start preparing for extra time because the game was with them," said the veteran United boss.
"I told Paul Scholes to get ready for extra time because I thought it was looking that way.
"We'd lost our momentum with Louis Saha coming off. He had so many fouls against him, eventually it told. He had a kick in the calf and he had to come off.
"That was a blow to us because he was absolutely fantastic for us tonight. So (the closing moments) were a really difficult time for us.
"We worked out their system, we spoke about the space we could create and we used it very well with three goals in the space of four minutes.
"It was a marvellous start - our best ever. But sometimes that can be a problem. In a cup tie.
"But losing a goal after twenty-odd minutes just gave Reading a lifeline. They took that lifeline and made it very difficult for us in the second half.
"It was a fantastic cup-tie. Credit to both sides, they put on a great show. Anyone watching that can only be delighted with the performance of both teams."