Ferguson anger as injuries mar victory

SIR Alex Ferguson was furious after losing Gary Neville and John O’Shea to injury last night in Manchester United’s 2-0 home league victory against Portsmouth.

The Reds’ manager was unhappy with the tackles which will rule both players out of the team for several weeks and he accused referee Peter Walton of failing to take “firm” action.

Neville limped off after less than 10 minutes after damaging his right ankle in a challenge.

He was replaced at right-back by John O’Shea but the substitute was substituted early in the second half after also being caught on his right ankle.

It mean United paid a high price for the victory which moved them three points clear at the top of the Premier League on a landmark night for Oldham-based Paul Scholes.

The 34-year-old midfield man from Grasscroft became only the fourth player in the Reds’ history to make 600 appearances for the club.

And Scholes proved he is still an influential figure at Old Trafford as he provided the assist for Michael Carrick’s late goal which clinched victory.

It was an important night for United as they took advantage of the slip the previous night by Liverpool who were held at home by Arsenal.

Said Ferguson: “We are in a better position than we were yesterday morning - that’s for sure. But after seeing the second half, when we were so casual, I am not taking anything for granted. We need to put our foot down all the time.

“In the first half we played some of the best football of the season. It was absolutely fantastic. But we missed four or five chances and we made it difficult for ourselves.

“And that encouraged our opponents. They kept digging in and they had two opportunities in the second half and I was telling myself we were going to throw it away.”

It took United less than nine minutes to break the deadlock when Wayne Rooney scored his 18th goal of the campaign after he slotted home a left-wing cross from Ryan Giggs.

O’Shea saw a header cleared off the line by Nadir Belhadj while Giggs was denied by a great block by keeper David James. Anderson and Ronaldo also had great openings.

When Pompey started to carve out a number of half chances in the second half, it began to look as though United might live to regret those missed opportunities.

But Scholes split the Pompey defence with a great through ball after 82 minutes and substitute Carrick raced through and from the right side of the box coolly slotted a shot low to the right of James.