Soccer:Manchester United captain Rio Ferdinand believes their Champions League quarter-final with Chelsea is in the balance despite United's 1-0 win at Stamford Bridge.
Wayne Rooney made light of the furore surrounding his four-letter tirade at West Ham on Saturday by slotting the winner from a Ryan Giggs pass, but Ferdinand is wary of the threat Chelsea will pose in next week’s second leg.
"It's in the balance," he told ITV1. "It was a good result but we need to go to Old Trafford, defend well, stay on our feet and if we don't concede we go through."
The final moments of the game saw Chelsea aggrieved after two penalty appeals were turned down as Patrice Evra brought down Ramires and Fernando Torres went down under pressure from Antonio Valencia.
Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti went on to the field to speak to the referee at the full-time whistle but Ferdinand said of the first claim, which replays suggested should have been given: “Maybe it was a penalty, maybe it wasn’t.
“But it evens itself out over the course of a season. I don’t think it was a penalty, maybe it should have been but they have ridden their luck here over the years so it was time we had some.”
Manager Alex Ferguson praised his side’s performance, in particular Rooney’s contribution.
“To be honest I thought their player made the most of it,” he said of the first penalty claim. “I haven’t seen the replay but there is plenty to talk about with penalty claims and dives but I thought our players were great.
“Wayne just played his game. He got a lot of abuse and late tackles but he played his game and that shows the courage of the players. He was important on the counter-attack and he was in tremendous form and he has given us a great chance of reaching the semi.”
Chelsea keeper Petr Cech could not believe that the Blues were not awarded a spot-kick for Evra’s crude lunge on Brazilian Ramires.
“I think everybody saw what happened, you can see clearly on the TV,” he said. “But the most important person did not see it. We lost the game and we have left ourselves a mountain to climb but we have to do it.
“I think we created chances and that was the key. They had their first chance and scored and we had some but we didn’t score, and that’s the difference.”
