Boss salutes Reds' resolve

Sir Alex Ferguson saluted his side's resolve as Nemanja Vidic's late header gave United a battling victory over Everton at Goodison Park.

The Reds, who were far from fluent, showed great character to keep the hosts largely at arm's length throughout the match, and defended resolutely - with Vidic particularly outstanding.

"It was a great result," Sir Alex told MUTV. "A lot of teams will drop points here. It was a real battle. It looked to me like it was going to be a draw, but then we got a lifeline with Nemanja's goal.

"It wasn't a great performance, but it was a good, decent performance. The whole team worked very hard, and it's maybe difficult sometimes coming back off the international break.

"We all know that we've not got our strongest side out, but in that situation you all get together. It was a good strong team effort today, and we defended right.

"They had a chance at 1-0 when Edwin's made a terrific save, and Rio Ferdinand's made a fantastic block from the follow-up (from Victor Anichebe). That's determined defending, and that's the kind of defending you need to win the title.

"If we can do that, and once we've got all our top players back and got the consistency of our performance, we'll be alright."

Sir Alex was left exasperated at times by the performance of referee Alan Wiley, who irked the United Manager by dishing out questionable bookings to Paul Scholes and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Scholes - who subsequently avoided a second booking for a foul on Mikel Arteta - was booked for punching the ball away after Wylie had harshly penalised him for handball, while Ronaldo was punished for a perceived dive on the edge of the Everton area.

"When Scholesy got his booking, he didn't handle the ball. The referee's view is blocked, he's heard the crowd and given a yellow card, which is ridiculous," said Sir Alex.

"Carlos has seen the video and said Ronaldo was definitely tripped, but it was outside the box. To get a yellow card if you've been fouled is ridiculous. And of course you can't rescind a yellow card, only a red card, that's the unfortunate thing.

"The referee's really just satisfied the crowd. He thought it was going to be a penalty kick, and that's why he's booked him. It gets him out of jail, and it was a terrible decision."