Sir Alex says United were worth their win

Sir Alex Ferguson felt his Manchester United FC team were always in control of their UEFA Champions League fixture away to Bursaspor after Darren Fletcher fired the English visitors in front shortly after half-time. A 3-0 loss left the Turkish titleholders with no prospects of progress in the competition, yet coach Ertuğrul Sağlam believes the team is benefiting from playing against high-calibre opponents.

Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United manager
When you get a goal early in the second half it makes a difference. From that point on we were basically in control of the match; they had a couple of half chances but the second goal killed the match. [Obertan] has had a couple of injures. He's only 20 and is developing very well, he's getting much stronger now. He showed that tonight with his goal, which was a fantastic strike.

Darren Fletcher has the energy and engine to get up and down the pitch and get into positions like he did today. He's always had a reasonable [goal] return, four or five a season, so if he can increase or double that we'll be delighted. We just think about our midfield players' goal input over the past few years and it's good to get a healthy return from everyone. We'll see how Nani is tomorrow and Darren Fletcher got an ankle injury so that's a concern.

I liked the style of play that Bursaspor showed us tonight. It's not easy to be successful in your first experience at this level, and people have to give credit to Bursaspor. I found their performance very positive and think they'll improve in the coming years.

Ertuğrul Sağlam, Bursaspor coach
We played well, especially in the first half. We created some chances and had free-kicks in dangerous positions. If we didn't concede at the start of the second half then the game could have been different. After the second goal Manchester United took control of the game and did what they wanted to in that period; they deserved the win. I'm much more positive than before. We are getting better, and gathering experience by playing these world-class opponents.

Our opponents have a lot of quality players in their squad and they showed us and everyone else how football has to be played. We wanted to record a precious victory for our fans but they know the score. At 3-0 down they gave us a beautiful present by chanting for all of us.