Man Utd 4 Everton 4
Last Updated: 23rd April 2012
ALEX FERGUSON has taken Manchester United into the football’s most intimidating fortresses and triumphed.
Now he needs to do it again in what he describes as his biggest derby EVER.
Next Monday at the Etihad will not be for the faint-hearted.
United lead the title race by just three points — following yesterday’s dramatic 4-4 draw with Everton at Old Trafford and City’s 2-0 win at Wolves — having trailed by five and then lead by eight.
Now, whoever wins next Monday is in the driving seat with just two games left.
Boss Ferguson said: “There has been an expectancy from City that it could be their decider — but it’s our decider too, now.
“We’ve given them the initiative, there is no doubt about that. It makes the game at the Etihad a really important game. A decider really.
“We make it hard for ourselves, as we normally do, but we’ll have to go there knowing we are capable of getting a result. There will be a reaction, obviously, there is no question about that.”
The reactions Ferguson is expecting follows an incredible collapse at Old Trafford yesterday when United lead 3-1 and 4-2 only to let plucky Everton back into it.
Ferguson was not pulling any punches in his assessment of what he had witnessed.
He added: “We just didn’t deal with the balls into Fellaini, it’s as simply that. Lack of concentration.
“It could be costly, there is no question about that.
“We’ve thrown a game away that we should be coasting and seeing the game out. But we didn’t, so we have given ourselves a difficult task. It was a bad performance. Recently we have defended well, so it was a real shock for us to defend like that.”
In truth, nobody was prepared for what was to come after a low-key first-half which had seen Everton take the lead through Nikica Jelavic.
Wayne Rooney headed United level just before the break and the home side noticeably picked up the pace afterwards.
In the second-half United went 3-1 ahead by the hour mark with goals from Danny Welbeck and Nani.
But a Marouane Fellaini volley brought David Moyes and his men back in it on 67 minutes although United’s two-goal cushion was restored through Rooney just two minutes later.
It could have been five, but skipper Patrice Evra hit the woodwork with a far-post header, then Everton stunned Old Trafford by hitting two in three minutes through Jelavic in the 83rd minute and Steven Pienaar.
Even then Rio Ferdinand could have won it in injury time but former United keeper Tim Howard kept his volley out with an excellent save.
Ferguson said: “Some of the football in the second half was fantastic, the goals were brilliant and it was a travesty of a result in some ways to play that type of football and concede four goals.
“But we made it difficult for ourselves and if you look at our history we keep doing that.
“I think there were defensive lapses — their goals were soft, really soft goals. We have created goals through really good football but I think they got their goals easy.”
While Ferguson was critical of his team’s defending, he was full of praise for striker partners Rooney and Welbeck who combined superbly in the second half.
He added: “There was great combination play from the two, they were a real threat to their centre-backs and we couldn’t get the ball up to them quick enough. It was a real threat.
“Their combination was a real threat to Everton.
“Their understanding where each other was, it was terrific. They should have got more out of the game than they did.”
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