Everton 1 Man Utd 0: Sir Alex Ferguson rues lack of clinical edge
Everton 1 Man Utd 0: Sir Alex Ferguson bemoaned his side's wasteful finishing after Red Devils are beaten at Goodison Park
Sir Alex Ferguson was left to rue Manchester United’s lack of clinical finishing after his side opened their Premier League campaign with defeat at Everton.
Marouane Fellaini thundered home his header in the 57th minute to hand David Moyes’ men victory at Goodision Park, as Robin van Persie made his Red Devils debut as a second-half substitute.
The United boss did not feel let down by his side’s display on Merseyside but warned that they must put away their chances in games to come.
“I think it was a pretty good game actually,” Ferguson told MUTV. “We had plenty of possession and made some great openings without actually finishing them. But I have no criticism of my team tonight, they applied themselves well.
“That was the main difference, they got their shots on target and our goalkeeper did very well.
“We had a couple of moments [when we nearly scored]. I thought maybe Danny Welbeck was pushed as he went into the box. That was a big moment and Tom Cleverley had his shot blocked by Phil Jagielka on the line in the second half.
“We played really good football at times. We had some good combination play.”
The Scot also acknowledged that Fellaini’s man-of-the-match display gave his side a “handful” as the Belgium international sparkled in central midfield.
“Fellaini is a handful,” he continued. “He’s a big, tall, gangly lad and they just lumped the ball towards him all the time. That’s all they did and they worked it from that base. But he got the goal for them so it’s justified.”
Van Persie was introduced from the bench in the 68th minute but was unable to have an impact on proceedings. And Ferguson admitted his side failed to create any chances for the £24m signing.
“I thought we played around Robin too much,” he said. “We didn’t show enough penetration.
“With Robin in your team, you really want to use his ability against centre-backs, he’s very good in those situations. But we didn’t use that.” 
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Read more on: Everton, Manchester United, Marouane Fellaini, Premier League, Robin van Persie, Sir Alex Ferguson.
