Frustrated Fergie Praises The Fans

Sir Alex believes we did a good job but should have converted one of our chances.

United edged a nervy encounter with Lyon to advance to the quarter-finals of the Champions League but it should have been more than a 1-0 victory, according to the boss.

'We should have made more of the chances and the possession we had in the second half,' he told ITV Sport.

'We made it difficult for ourselves. But we're into the next round and that was, of course, the object of the exercise.

'Defensively we did very well. I don't think Lyon really had any chances in the game. That is a plus for us.'

Well, they hit the post once but Van der Sar had that covered. Apart from that, they did not have chances, true - but it does not hide the fact that I was downright scared whenever Hatem Ben Arfa touched the ball as he always seemed to find space to run into...

Possession? Well, we had more of it but still kept the ball away with embarassing frequency? Chances? Yes, in the last 10 minutes or so. We should have killed the game off then.

On to happier notes: Ronaldo scored his 30th goal in all competitions. Quite an achievement.

'It's a fantastic record. For a wide player to do that is incredible. He drifts into the middle at times, as he did tonight. He took the goal very well. We're very pleased, it's a great contribution.'

Yes, it was a great contribution in the first half. And I suggest that we forget about the second. That's the best we can do.

I realise that I sound quite gloomy but believe me, I'm overjoyed that we won, equalled Juventus' record and all that - but the game itself was such an anti-climax that it's hard to be enthusiastic at the moment. Despite that, there was great atmosphere at Old Trafford, as Fergie hurried to acknowledge.

'The supporters have a lot to do with that. They were fantastic again tonight.'

With what they had a lot to do, you may ask. Well, with winning and thus equalling that Juventus record that dominated the pre-match talk. The chance is there to break their record in the quarter-finals.