'Travesty' - Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson slams officials after Newcastle draw

Sir Alex Ferguson has his say
Sir Alex Ferguson has labelled Manchester United's 1-1 draw with Newcastle "a travesty" as he tried to take in the Magpies' controversial equaliser at Old Trafford.

The hosts were leading through Javier Hernandez's second-half effort when Rio Ferdinand slid in on Hatem Ben Arfa.

Referee Mike Jones indicated a corner, only for linesman John Flynn to signal for a penalty.

TV replays indicated Ferdinand's challenge had been legal but after discussing the decision with Flynn, Jones refused to overrule his assistant and Demba Ba tucked home the spot-kick.

"To not get the three points from that is just a travesty," said Ferguson.

"It was everyone's view, including the referee. He thought Rio won the ball and gave a corner. He has let the linesman overrule him."

Ferguson recounted an incident in the home game against Sunderland earlier this month, when a linesman flagged for a penalty, only for referee Lee Mason to, correctly, give the decision in United's favour as an example of what should have happened.

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"We had a situation a few weeks ago," he said. "The linesman gave a penalty for a handball, which was obviously an opponent's hand.

"He was put in a terrible quandary. He didn't know what to do.

"But he knew full well it was a handball from an opponent and overruled the linesman. That is what he should have done today."

United players surrounded Jones at the final whistle, with Ferdinand, Patrice Evra and Wayne Rooney particularly upset as they made their way off the field.

However, New! castle d eserved some credit for the barrage of late attacks they managed to withstand, despite having Jonas Gutierrez sent off.

Tim Krul made a string of fine saves, former United defender Danny Simpson denied Hernandez with a magnificent goalline clearance and the Mexican had an effort ruled out for offside deep into stoppage time.

"It was a fantastic performance by us and an incredible result," said Ferguson.

"I could see us scoring because we kept creating chances and the normal pattern of these 15-minute surges is that we take our chances and we are okay.

"They put their bodies on the line. I give them credit for that.

"We absolutely slaughtered them but we just couldn't get the result.

"It is disappointing but if we play like that every week, I will be very happy."

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