Ananova:

Sir Alex Ferguson cursed Manchester United's luck as they tumbled out of the Champions League against Porto at Old Trafford.

United drew 1-1 with the Portuguese side after conceding a goal in injury time and lost the tie 3-2 on aggregate.

Ferguson said: "You get shocked in life and I suppose you couldn't see that one coming. I thought that defensively we were absolutely brilliant, they had a lot of possession of the ball but I felt that we were in complete control.

"It wasn't a great Manchester United performance but it was laced with a lot of good play and I think we deserved to win the match."

The United manager said he was stunned that Paul Scholes had a second goal ruled out for offside minutes after he had headed the home side in front.

Ferguson said: "To be honest I couldn't believe it. You can understand it maybe if there's one defender and the linesman doesn't see it but when there are three playing him onside you cannot understand it.

"That would have put us into a very, very comfortable position at 2-0 up, but then that's football."

United now desperately need good results against Arsenal in the FA Cup semi-final and the Premiership - they trail the Gunners by nine points - and Ferguson said the season was by no means over.

"Obviously we are out of the European Cup which is disappointing having done so well and qualified for Europe so often.

''We have to ensure European football for next year but there's no reason to give up on the league - that has been proved tonight and I don't see how anyone could have seen what happened in the last minute.

"We are in the semi-final of the FA Cup and that will not be an easy game for either side."

Ferguson felt his defenders had gone to sleep for the injury-time free-kick, when Benni McCarthy's strike was parried by Tim Howard only for Costinha to knock home the loose ball.

He said: "We have had problems defensively but we did really well in that area tonight, but we have not reacted to the rebound and that's the first thing you have to do as a defender when the ball is going towards your goalkeeper."

	Related stories: Porto boss stands by his man 08:00 Thursday 26th February 2004 More related stories

	Check for more on: Champions League Porto Manchester United English Premier League Soccer

Reckon you know what the scores will be? Where the big sporting shocks will come? Have a flutter at Blue Square where first-time Ananova users get a free £10 bet!