Fergie unhappy despite comeback

Sir Alex Ferguson was unhappy with Manchester United's performance despite recovering from a two-goal deficit to draw 2-2 at Aston Villa.

The home side, without nine senior players, looked set for their first home win over United for 15 years after goals from Ashley Young and Marc Albrighton.

But United rallied in the final 15 minutes and goals from substitute Federico Macheda and skipper Nemanja Vidic rescued a point.

Ferguson said: "We controlled the first half, and had a couple of good chances.

"But in the second half I just think it was carelessness on our part. Our passing was poor. Normally we can control the match. We didn't control it.

"We are a club though that never says there is no way back.

"We brought people on (Macheda and Gabriel Obertan) and they changed the game in fairness to them.

"There was a great life and adventure about them. Macheda scored a great goal and with another five minutes we would have won the game."

Ferguson brought off strikers Dimitar Berbatov and Javier Hernandez when making his double change but he admitted: "I could have taken any of 10 players off because we didn't perform well.

"We came back well but it was too late and we shouldn't have been in that position. I expected us to do better in terms of our play."

Ferguson was full of praise for Villa, although he was unhappy that some of their tackles were allowed to go unpunished by Mike Dean.

He said: "You've got to give credit to Villa for their battling qualities. They were enthusiastic and made it a very difficult day for us.

"They were playing at a high level of emotion and deserved the result.

"They tackled everything. A lot of the tackles were unfair but the referee allowed them to go."

Villa boss Gerard Houllier had mixed feelings about the outcome of the game after seeing his side surrender their two-goal advantage.

He said: "I was very proud of the performance but the mood in the dressing room was disappointment because the players felt they had enough chances to win the game.

"In the second half we took the game to them, had the chances to win it, hit the bar and post.

"But we were playing Manchester United who never give up and after they scored their first goal, the confidence was on their side and not our side.

"We should have won but we could have lost, and they are a quality side."

Houllier admitted: "I do not think I've had such an inexperienced midfield for a game of such magnitude.

"If someone had seen our team before the game and said 'will you take 2-2?', we would have taken it.

"But it is just the way that the game went which meant we felt disappointed with the result."