Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson says his side were lucky to take all three points in Wednesday’s 2-1 win over a Southampton team he labelled the best he’d faced this season.
Jay Rodriguez had put the Saints ahead early, before Wayne Rooney hit a first-half double to turn it around, while Shinji Kagawa saw an effort hit the post in an exciting first half.
However, in the second 45 the Saints posed all sorts of problems for the Red Devils, with Rickie Lambert coming the closest to scoring when his free-kick was well saved by David de Gea.
“For the first 30 minutes we were fantastic,” Ferguson told BBC Sport.
“But in the second half Southampton have been the best team to play here this season. We were fortunate to win.”
Southampton’s new Argentine boss Mauricio Pocchettino was happy with Ferguson’s praise but disappointed to get no points.
“I’m very proud. It’s very important for my players to hear,” he said.
“But we leave with no points. We did play well but I’m upset at not getting a draw at least. It doesn’t console me.”
He added: “Taking into account the second half we should have had at least a draw. And once we scored the goal we should have been able to control the game. We should have been a lot more aggressive and neutralised their attacking chances a lot more.”