Man City thrashing is my worst ever day, admits Sir Alex
Downbeat Manchester United manager admits 6-1 defeat is his darkest day in charge of the Red Devils
Sir Alex Ferguson has labelled Manchester United’s humiliating 6-1 defeat by Manchester City as his “worst ever day” in charge of the Red Devils.
Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko both scored twice for Roberto Mancini’s men, with Sergio Aguero and David Silva completing the rout at Old Trafford after Darren Fletcher netted a consolation for the home side.
The result fired City five points clear at the top of the table and was United’s heaviest home defeat since February 1955.
“It’s the worst result in my history, ever,” said Ferguson. “Even as a player I don’t think I ever lost 6-1. I can’t believe the scoreline. The first goal was a blow for sure but it was retrievable at 1-0.”
The game swung fully in City’s favour when United defender Jonny Evans was sent off just after the break for bringing down Balotelli on the edge of the box with the visitors leading 1-0.
“The sending off was a killer for us,” continued Ferguson.”We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said, ‘We’ve had our day’.”
Ferguson admits his side were “embarrassed” by the manner of the defeat but vowed to ensure the defending champions bounce back.
“You have to recover,” he added. “In the history of Manchester United, it is another day and we’ll recover from this, there’s no question about that.
“But that kind of defeat will make an impact on the players. There’s a lot of embarrassment in the dressing room and quite rightly so. Hopefully they’ll show that [reaction] next week.”
Meanwhile, City boss Roberto Mancini has played down the astonishing result and declared that his team still have work to do if they are to win the title ahead of their derby rivals.
“This is only one game,” he said. “I still think United are one yard above us. We can only change this after we win the title in the end. After, maybe it will be different, but now United are better than us.”
The City manager added: “I’m satisfied because we beat United away and I don’t think there are a lot of teams that could win here.
“I think this game is important because we beat them at Old Trafford but not for the 6-1. [The scoreline] is important for our supporters and maybe for the goals in the table.
“But I think we need to improve more if we want to stay on the top a long time. We need to work more.”
