West Brom rally to draw 2-2 at Man Utd

Posted Sunday, October 17, 2010 by YAHOO Sport

By CHRIS TUPLING STATS European Football Writer=

LONDON (SE) - Sir Alex Ferguson refused to blame Edwin van der Sar after his goalkeeping clanger helped West Brom come back from two goals down to snatch a 2-2 draw at Old Trafford.

United had raced into a two-goal lead after just 25 minutes thanks to goals from Nani and Chicarito, but a spirited second half fightback from the in-form Baggies earned them a deserved point.

First Patrice Evra turned the ball into his own net just seven minutes after the restart before experienced campaigner van der Sar gifted Somen Tchoyi the easiest of equalizers.

But Ferguson \2013 who steadfastly refused to answer questions about substitute Wayne Rooney’s supposed injury or his future at the club \2013 said: “We have to forgive Edwin van der Sar for that mistake.

“It is an unbelievable career he has had and everyone makes mistakes at some point. He will move on from it and so will we.

“It is not one person’s fault that we have given the game away today. We should have been four or five up by half-time and had the game dead and buried.

“It is a disappointing result. We need to start killing off teams when we have the advantage over them.”

United, in a sticky run of form and desperate for a win to close the gap on leaders Chelsea, roared out of the blocks.

A dipping Nani free-kick on five minutes had Scott Carson in the Baggie goal scrambling, and he could only palm the ball straight into the path of the diminutive Mexican striker, who slotted home with ease.

Nani was again at the heart of all of United’s best work, and got himself on the score sheet with a precise finish after neat interplay with Dimitar Berbatov on 25 minutes.

United continued to dominate, but ten minutes of madness cost them after the break.

First, Evra poked a driven Chris Brunt centre past a helpless van der Sar, before the Dutch goalkeeper’s terrible afternoon took an even worse turn, as he dropped a looping Brunt cross to allow Tchoyi to prod into an empty net.

Rooney watched the action unfold from the bench, but even his introduction late on could not prevent Roberto Di Matteo’s side earning a fantastic point.

Di Matteo said: “When we came here I was looking for a performance from the boys and especially in the second half, they gave me one.

“I said a few things to them at half-time, I threw a few cups around \2013 I am joking of course \2013 but after that they were very good.

“We are doing a lot of things very well and we are going in the right direction, so I am pleased. United put us under a lot of pressure but we stood up to it today.”