Wasteful

Last updated : 16 August 2007 By Ed
More From Ferguson on last night's game.

"We played some fantastic football at times and had to contend with some of their physical stuff," Sir Alex added.

"The crowd get behind them. Theirs wasn't a freak goal it was a fantastic header but the cross could have gone anywhere. We wasted chances after that. It was a disappointing result but a good performance. We played some fantastic football but were wasteful with some of our chances certainly. We were unfortunate not to get the three points.

"Carlos was absolutely terrific but didn't get any protection. I don' know how many times he was fouled from behind. I'll need to check that law of the game but I don't think you can get kicked from behind. It must be a new one. He had to suffer a lot. I wouldn't talk to the referee there was no chance of talking to him.

"We are going to be missing Wayne and Cristiano for the derby but the good news is I got 90 minutes from Carlos Tevez. He tired but I couldn't take him off because he is capable of scoring in any situation whether he is tired or not. He had a great contribution and hopefully he will be fit for Sunday."

Appy Arry

"I didn't see the Ronaldo incident. I just saw the red card go up and thought 'I hope it's not one of ours and we're not down to nine'.

"We made a couple of tactical changes at half-time and it worked. We really upped the tempo and deserved a point.

"Benjani had been short of goals for a long while but we are really beginning to see the best of him now."

And on the 36 game run-in.

"The top four will be the top four again but it's going to be closer." The Portsmouth manager was proud, too, of the result after his side had been beset by several injuries to defenders."