Ferguson: United were unlucky

Sir Alex Ferguson: Felt Manchester United were unlucky against Manchester City

United's lead at the top of the table was trimmed to 12 points with seven games remaining after an excellent solo effort from substitute Sergio Aguero earned City the win.
Ferguson, who believes there was an element of offside about City's opener from James Milner, was satisfied with his side's performance, particularly in the second half.

"It was a very tense, competitive game, it was the two best teams in the country," Ferguson told Sky Sports 1. "The opening period was end to end, but nothing quite happened.
"We were quite dangerous a few times on the counter-attack and we maybe could have done better, but in the second half I thought we were the better team and were unlucky to lose it.
"If you look at the goals we lost, I know Aguero is a fantastic finisher but we gave him a lot of room and for the first goal certainly Tevez is interfering with play, but the linesman that side, there's no way he's giving that, but Tevez is clearly in the road of the keeper. If that's not interference, I don't know what is.
"I was pleased with the performance in the second half. I thought we did really well coming back from 1-0 down.
"If you look at the whole thing it's not a bad day for us in terms of the performance level. It was a very intense game. You don't want to lose a derby game but we're okay."
Ferguson dismissed suggestions that United's huge lead at the summit had allowed complacency to creep in and he is now turning his focus to Sunday's game at Stoke City.

He added: "We won't be doing that. If you look at the history of this club over the years, we always make it difficult for ourselves and have the supporters hanging on the edge of their seats.
"It's a 12-point lead and there are only seven games left. Each game that goes along you whittle them down.
"It's Stoke on Sunday which will be a big effort and we'll have a go."

Kompany and Milner keen for Manchester City to take derby form into next season

Despite both players conceding that the Premier League title is an impossible target this term, they underlined the importance of Monday evening's win at Old Trafford

Manchester City captain Vincent Kompany believes Monday evening's 2-1 win over Manchester United can provide a provide a springboard to his side ahead of next season.

Roberto Mancini's men reduced the points gap at the top of the Premier League to 12 points at Old Trafford but, with just seven games remaining, are unlikely to overturn the deficit entirely.

However, Kompany described the win as "massive" for the visitors as they look toward a probable fight to regain their title in the next campaign.

"A derby is always a special game and for us to be able to win this game is massive. Our fans are still celebrating – it’ll be a great night for us," he told Sky Sports.

"Every game you have to play to win and I do believe that the way we finish this season is going to have an impact on next season and it’s always going to start from the beginning again. So this is a good game to have under our belt and we’ll take it into next season."

The Belgian also hailed City's workrate off the ball as the reason behind their victory over Sir Alex Ferguson's side.

"We all worked very hard. They played very offensively," he added. "They have an unbelievable strike force so we had to close the gaps.

"We had to be tight to them and we did that very well – I don’t think we gave a lot chances away and if you look at our overall play I think we were the better team. So I’m really happy with it."

Kompany's teammate James Milner, meanwhile, insisted his side was not more determined due to the distance between the teams in the table.

"Not really. Regardless of where we are in the table, a derby is a derby and you massively want to beat your rivals and that’s the case for every game," he said.

"It was massively important, we knew that. We came here and worked hard and got a good win.

"They’ve got such a great record at Old Trafford. They’re very tough to break down and they score a lot of goals here. We’re a bit disappointed to concede one from a set piece as I thought we defended really well."