Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said that referee Mike Dean committed a host of mistakes in United's 2-0 Premiership win over Chelsea on Sunday. Ferguson believes that the referee's decisions to send off Chelsea's John Obi Mikel and give United a 93rd minute penalty were just attempts to make amends for early errors in the Blues' favor. Balancing out "I've seen the sending off incident and it was maybe a bit harsh, but there was intent there, it could have hurt the boy (Evra) but a lot of referees would have let it go," Sir Alex told Sky Sports. "Then, when you see Joe Cole's tackle in the second half on Cristiano Ronaldo, that should have been a straight red card. He got a yellow card, but it should have been red. I think the referee was perhaps balancing it out." The United boss claimed that his side should have been awarded a first half spot kick, while admitting that Louis Saha's injury time penalty was a bit exaggerated. The Frenchman made a meal of Tal ben Haim's slight challenge on him, but Dean pointed to the spot before Saha converted in the second. "The foul on Saha for our penalty was a bit harsh, but I think that cancels out the one we should have got in the first half. We should have had a penalty kick (for Cole's foul on Evra) in the first half, I think the cameras clearly show that," He added. Deserved win Apart from the referee's poor display, the Scotsman believes his side deserved the victory, which is the fifth in a row that the Red Devils have secured by the one-goal margin.
Grant also criticized the ref "I think we were the better team, our football in the early parts of the match was outstanding," he said. "In the first half hour we played as well as we have all season in terms of the penetration of our play, the movement and our passing." Grant happy Chelsea new coach Avram Grant remained defiant after his side's defeat at Old Trafford, as he praised his players' reaction to Jose Mourinho's 'shocking' exit. "With everything that has happened, I'm happy with the way they have behaved. It was a shock to everyone, including me, but they have responded well," he said. "I have been happy with the support of the players, I have only been with them for three days and as a manager I am happy." The Chelsea manager also had his fair share of criticizing the decisions of referee Dean, which he claims to have had an influence on the score line. "We were playing well until Mikel was sent off and the game changed then," added Grant. "It seemed the wrong decision and it was also wrong that United scored in the third minute of injury time when the referee said there would only be two."
