Ferguson happy with Man Utd performance in Benfica draw

15.09.11

Manchester United bossSir Alex Ferguson was pleased with their performance in drawing 1-1 at Champions League opponents Benfica.

Ferguson paid tribute to the Reds’ ability to come from behind, afterRyan Giggs cancelled out Oscar Cardozo’s superb opener for the hosts with an equally impressive leveller.

“We went 1-0 down and coming back was a good part of the game for us, " Ferguson told manutd.com. "I thought we played very well for the first half an hour of the second-half and maybe we should have finished it then.

“But in the last 15 minutes I think Benfica came into it a bit and Anders (Lindegaard) made one or two terrific saves to keep us in it. We had one or two chances ourselves but I think a draw was a fair result.

“You’ve got to expect a tough game with Benfica and one of contrast. When they had possession they did well and when we had it, we played well. That’s what good teams can do. It was that type of match and both teams played their part.”

One of the most pleasing aspects of Wednesday’s match at the Estadio da Luz was the opportunity to field some of the players who'd previously been on the fringes this season.

“Most of them have had good game time," observed Sir Alex. "Ji-Sung Park and Michael Carrick had a full game. Antonio Valencia and Darren Fletcher both played a good part of the game, as did young Fabio.

“We needed that because we have important times coming up in the Champions League, the Carling Cup, and the Premier League.”