Ferguson: Unfortunate Not To Take Three Points, Ronaldo Fell Into Trap

Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson remained positive despite his side again dropping points and Cristiano Ronaldo being sent off.

United have made the worst start to a Premiership campaign for eight years, but on that occasion they emerged with the treble at the end of the season.

Tonight at Portsmouth, United showed moments of brilliance but were again unable to convert their chances.

Ferguson believes that there were plenty of positives to be taken out of this match, despite languishing four points behind Chelsea at this early stage.

"We played some fantastic football at times, but we were wasteful with our chances," he told MUTV. "But we were unfortunate not to take all three points.

"We had to contend with Portsmouth's physical approach. They got got stuck in and the crowd gets behind them. It's a great support at Fratton Park. It was a fantastic header, but their goal was out of the blue. We were wasteful with our chances after that and it was a disappointing result."

The manager was also impressed by Carlos Tevez on his debut for United.

"He was absolutely terrific. He made a great contribution, hopefully he's fit and ready for Sunday.”

The game was soured somewhat towards the end when Portsmouth had Muntari sent off, then moments later Ronaldo was given his marching orders after allegedly head-butting Richard Hughes.

Ferguson believes that Ronaldo was lured into the action by the Portsmouth players.

“I've looked at the replay a few times now and there's nothing conclusive - you can't really see anything.

"I believe he was provoked and he fell for it. Steve Bennett sent him off at City [in January 2006] and he will have loved the opportunity to send him off again.

"Cristiano was simply responsible for falling into a trap of intimidation. It happened to him a few times during the game and he's only himself to blame. It left us with ten men and now we're going to miss him for three games. It's a big blow.

"You get provoked and you have got to have the calmness to just remind yourself you're a better player than these players and that is why they are doing it," he said. "He has fallen into the trap and paid the penalty for it.

"[If you react] you have no recourse. For instance, Paul Scholes last season against Liverpool raised his hands, he didn't touch the player, but he was given three matches for that."

taken from goal.com