Alex Ferguson chose not to say much about United's 2-0 win over Leicester but among his few words was an admission that referee Andy D'Urso made a mistake over Leicester's missed penalty. The spot-kick, which was awarded a minute after Ruud van Nistelrooy had opened the scoring for Manchester United, was the turning point in the match.
Laurent Blanc fouled Trevor Benjamin as he attempted to get on the end of Ade Akinbiyi's miscued shot across the face of goal and D'Urso, who was hounded by a mob of United players when he last awarded a penalty against them at Old Trafford, pointed to the spot.
This was Fabien Barthez's cue to indulge in a spot of gamesmanship and the United goalkeeper started cleaning his studs against his left-hand post. Leicester's penalty taker Muzzy Izzet claims D'Urso then blew for the kick to be taken and he knocked the ball into the empty net.
D'Urso ruled out the effort and when Izzet retook the penalty, Barthez touched it on to his right-hand post. Leicester felt robbed and Ferguson, who did not attend his regular post-match press conference, conceded on MUTV that if D'Urso had blown for the kick to be taken then he had boobed.
"If he did then he's made a mistake. I'm sure there will be some question marks about it. At the end of the day Fabien has made a good save, a fantastic save. I didn't think it was a penalty kick at the time, but I would need to see it on TV," Ferguson said.
Filed by Sinéad Kissane
