Alex Ferguson Lays into Manchester United Players after Fulham Defeat

Barclays Premier League: Fulham 2-0 Manchester United

Sir Alex Ferguson normally keeps the criticism of his Manchester United players firmly in house.

It's a rule that has served him well throughout his majestic Old Trafford career.

So the pithy sentence of condemnation delivered after this Craven Cottage set-back must rank as a withering attack on his team.

United's second successive league defeat in six days had blown the title race wide open.

The 4-1 home defeat against arch-rivals Liverpool was followed by this lifeless performance.

And Ferguson said: "The disappointment for me was that we didn't get a response from the players following the Liverpool game."

United were eventually reduced to nine players after Paul Scholes and Wayne Rooney were sent-off.

Ferguson's side had not lost consecutive league games for four years - a run that had extended over an astonishing 147 games.

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And England striker Rooney looks certain to be in hot water with the FA after he initially refused to leave the field of play and verbally abused Staffordshire referee Phil Dowd. When he eventually headed towards the tunnel he lashed out at a corner flag and was visibly cursing under his breath.

The FA is now likely to hand him an additional two match ban to go with the automatic one match ban he received for being sent-off for a second bookable offence. Ferguson attempted to defend his striker's actions afterwards saying: "Did Wayne throw the ball at the referee? Did he hit the referee? He was throwing the ball back for a free-lick.

"It was in anger but he just wanted to get the game going again."

United must now face Aston Villa on April 5, a game deemed critical by the boss, without three key players, Nemanja Vidic, Scholes and Rooney.

"If you lose games in March and April it can cost you but we still have a slender lead," insisted Sir Alex. "We now have a crucial game against Villa.

"We didn't play well enough in the first half to win the game.

"If we had got a goal in the second we could have got back into match.

"There was some talking done at half-time and we were unfortunate not to get something out of the game eventually. It was a tale of two keepers. Ours in the first-half and theirs in the second-half."

( Paul Smith / Mirror )