Ferguson: Referee had to dismiss Derry

Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson believes the referee had ‘no choice’ but to send off Shaun Derry in the 2-0 win over QPR on Sunday.

A first-half Wayne Rooney penalty and a goal from Paul Scholes ensured United took all three points, but the game was not without controversy.

QPR midfielder Derry was dismissed after just 14 minutes of the Old Trafford clash after Lee Mason adjudged the 34-year-old had fouled Ashley Young in the area.

Young appeared to be in an offside position when he received a pass from Rooney, but Ferguson felt the contact in the area was worthy of a penalty.

“I thought Ashley was offside,” the Scot told Sky Sports.

“You get a lot of it, in the last few weeks there has been a lot of decisions like that.

“The boy there just tugged it enough to unbalance Ashley and obviously being the last defender the referee is left with no option.”

Despite the red card giving his side an early advantage, the United manager was not happy with how his team responded.

“The sending off put us in the comfort zone to be honest and I didn’t enjoy that part because before the sending off I thought we played really well,” he said.

“The speed of our play was terrific, switches of play, good movement. The sending off put us in that comfort zone and we got far too casual.”

Despite being unimpressed with his team’s performance, Ferguson reserved special praise for the evergreen Scholes.

“We’ve only dropped two points since he came back into the fold, today was a typical Paul Scholes goal,” he said.

“He’s scored three now since he’s come back, you see the control of the game he has and the control of the tempo of our game, that’s never changed really.

“He’s a great, great player.”

QPR manager Mark Hughes, meanwhile, claimed Premier League managers have ‘lost faith’ in officials.

Hughes confirmed the club would appeal against Derry’s dismissal, and was furious with the decision after replays showed Young went down under minimal contact and was initially in an offside position.

“You should have confidence that the referees are going to make the key decisions in the game,” Hughes told reporters after the match. “Unfortunately, a lot of managers have lost faith in them.

“We’re desperately disappointed with the performance of the referee for the vast majority of the game.

“These are massive decisions that affect peoples’ livelihoods. Key decisions aren’t being made, unfortunately.

“It was clearly offside and the contact was minimal. He went down very easily.

“It just felt like he was a little bit too quick to put his whistle to his mouth. I don’t think he actually stopped to consider it, the penalty had been given before the assistant could put his flag up.

“It’s a difficult job, you have to be 100 percent convinced you’re making the right decision. I think at the moment people are guessing and hoping they get the decision correct. That was the case today.

“They don’t intend to make wrong decisions, they don’t mean it. But the level needs to be higher than it is at the moment.”

QPR sit just one place outside the relegation zone, level on points with third-from-bottom Blackburn.