Alex Ferguson rues penalty call

Alex Ferguson was left to fume at a match official after Manchester United were denied a penalty in a 1-1 draw at Tottenham Hotspur that breathed new life into the Premier League title race. Beck previously found himself the target of Ferguson’s anger after failing to flag when Didier Drogba scored a winning goal for Chelsea at Old Trafford in April 2010, and the United manager’s reaction proved he had not forgotten. ‘It was a clear penalty kick on Wayne Rooney, but in no way was the linesman going to give that,’ Ferguson told the BBC. ‘He gave them everything else. We have not had a good record with this linesman against Chelsea a few years ago he gave onside to Didier Drogba, who was three yards offside. You remember those things.’ FA Cup commitments mean United do not have a league game until they host Southampton on January 30, but Ferguson said his side could take heart from the difficult away games that are already behind them. ‘If you look at our away programme, we have been to Everton, been to Liverpool, to Manchester City, to Tottenham,’ he said. ‘We have been to all the top teams away from home.’ Spurs manager Andre Villas-Boas has seen his side take four points from United this season, after a 3-2 win at Old Trafford in September, and he said he hoped the penalty incident would not over-shadow his side’s performance. ‘It’s obviously going to be debated and debated, but I hope it doesn’t mar the game,’ he told reporters.