Match-winner Nani delights Sir Alex
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
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Manchester United FC's Sir Alex Ferguson singled out Nani for praise after the winger's goal in a 1-0 defeat of Bursaspor whose coach was disappointed his side did not offer more in attack.
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Sir Alex Ferguson paid tribute to Nani after the winger scored the only goal in Manchester United FC's 1-0 defeat of Bursaspor which moved them two points clear in UEFA Champions League Group C. The United manager said "a lot of things are coming together for him now", while Bursaspor's Ertuğrul Sağlam rued second-half injuries to Milan Stepanov and Ali Tandoğan.
Sir Alex Ferguson, United manager
A win was important, it was important for the fans. The players worked hard and there was good unity among them and a good atmosphere in the dressing room. I think we could have pushed on better. That's why I put on Chicharito [Javier Hernández] to try and get more impetus in the striking department.
But I think we did our job well in the sense we kept our intensity and we controlled the whole match. They had one shot with two minutes of the match remaining, so we can take credit for that. The players worked really hard but we could have done better in the final third. [Nani]'s got better, that's a great thing, and he's added a goal ratio to his game which is important. He's got great feet, courage, he's quick – a lot of things are coming together for him.
Ertuğrul Sağlam, Bursaspor coach
Injuries to Milan Stepanov and Ali Tandoğan badly affected our play. If we had not been forced to substitute them we could have been more influential. As we were not creative enough, we failed to take advantage of Manchester United's underwhelming performance. Our chances of finishing third are receding, though it is an advantage to play two of our last three games at home. We need to win all our remaining games and hope results go in our favour.
Bursaspor have been away from European club competition for 14 years and are resuming at the highest level. Most of our players are playing in Europe for the first time. We are a very inexperienced side and are feeling the disadvantage of this now. We will be happy if we can score our first goal and get our first points. This season is just preparation for us. Hopefully we will finish our league on top and use this experience in the Champions League next season again.
