Sir Alex Ferguson apologises for ‘disappointing’ Man United display

Sir Alex Ferugson labelled Manchester United’s performance against Crystal Palace a “big disappointment” after the Premier League side suffered a shock 2-1 Carling Cup defeat at Old Trafford.

Palace took a second-half lead courtesy of Darren Ambrose’s wonder-strike before United levelled when Federico Macheda dispatched a 68th-minute penalty.

But Glenn Murray netted the winner in the eighth minute of extra-time to dump the Premier League champions out of the Carling Cup.

“I’m so disappointed,” he said. “I have to apologise to my fans and all the players who weren’t playing. We never expected that.”

“Any time we go on the pitch it means a lot to Manchester United. We have our pride to protect and our history to protect. Every time we walk on the pitch it’s important. We didn’t see that tonight.

“[There were] nine internationals out there. So that was a big disappointment.”

The 69-year-old paid credit to Palace’s performance in the quarter-final tie at Old Trafford, insisting the Championship side, who will face Cardiff City in the last four, deserve to reach the final in Wembley.

“I don’t want to be taking anything away from Crystal Palace because I wish them every success. I hope they get to the final,” he added.

“They’ve put in an effort and they deserve to get to the final. They worked so hard for that so well done to them.”

Ferguson was left to rue injuries as Fabio, Rafael and Dimitar Berbatov after all substituted with injuries – but the United boss felt it had no bearing on the result of the match.

“Two full-backs being injured were a big blow for us then Berbatov had to go off at half-time,” he said.

“But it doesn’t matter, at the end of the day Crystal Palace deserved the result because they worked so hard for it. ”