Sir Alex Ferguson could not hide his frustration over Newcastle's equaliser after Manchester United had to settle for a 1-1 draw.
Man Utd boss expresses feelings over Newcastle's equaliser
Sir Alex Ferguson could not hide his frustration over Newcastle's equaliser after Manchester United had to settle for a 1-1 draw in Saturday's Premier League clash at Old Trafford.
The Red Devils took the lead through Javier Hernandez early in the second half but were pegged back just after the hour mark when Demba Ba scored with a penalty.
Referee Mike Jones had initially appeared to give a corner following what looked like a fair tackle by Rio Ferdinand on Hatem Ben Arfa, but he then awarded a spot-kick after speaking to assistant John Flynn.
Ferguson believes Jones should not have listened to his linesman and is just hopeful that the decision does not come back to haunt United in the long run.
"Everyone, including the referee, was astounded. He was put in a terrible position. Why can't the referee overrule it when he is only eight yards away?" Ferguson told
Sky Sports.
"The problem is that the referees are full-time and the linesmen are not, and whether he ever gets a game again, the assistant referee, is not for me to decide but it was an absolutely shocking decision.
"It costs you. Two years ago when the linesman gave the offside goal against Chelsea it cost us the league, so hopefully we're not saying that at the end of May."
Delighted
Manchester United went on to carve out a number of glorious opportunities in the closing stages, especially after Jonas Gutierrez's dismissal for Newcastle, but they could not find a winner.
Hernandez had also squandered chances in the first half and, while he was unhappy about dropping points, Ferguson saluted his team's creativity.
"Listening to Alan Pardew's interview and he said he thought they were the better team in the first half, I don't know what game he was at," said Ferguson.
"They made one chance in the match but in the first half Chicharito had four one-on-ones in the first half and on another day he takes two or three.
"In terms of creating chances we were fantastic, and if we play like that every week I'll be delighted."
