Ferguson hails 'greatest night'

Apr 10, 2007, 23:15 GMT

Manchester - Manager Sir Alex Ferguson described his Manchester United's side's victory over Roma Tuesday at Old Trafford as his 'greatest night in European terms.'

Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, United blew Roma away. Michael Carrick scored two magnificent strikes, and the brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo got two more in an extraordinary 7-1 win.

'It was a fantastic performance,' Ferguson said. 'There's no other description. This was a special night. Hopefully it's not a one-off in terms of quality, but the quality of goals was very high, and it's difficult to think you're going to get that again.'

What made the performance all the more astonishing was that it came following back-to-back, 2-1 defeats - last week at Roma and against Portsmouth Saturday in the Premiership.

'We've had a couple of bad results, but all great teams have these mishaps,' Ferguson said. 'At some point in a season you lose a game, but our recovery was magnificent.'

Ferguson had particular praise for Alan Smith, now recovered from a horrific series of injuries, who completed a marvellous passing move for the second to register his first goal for 18 months.

'His attitude to playing football is wonderful,' Ferguson said. 'I'm delighted for him. His enthusiasm spreads about the team.

'Ryan (Giggs) has deserved nights like this. He rises to it. Michael Carrick, I believe, is getting better and better and is now showing excellent quality. But the one individual we should pay attention to is Alan Smith. The rest of the players did what we expected of them.'

The victory puts United into the semi-finals for the first time in five years, and Ferguson drew comparison with the quarter-final defeat to AC Milan two years ago.

'That experience was a disappointment in terms of knowing we could have played better,' he said. 'Young players like Rooney and Ronaldo had difficulties. Tonight they looked like men.'

The Roma coach Luciano Spalletti was gracious in defeat, praising United. He did, though, criticize his own side for chasing the game having fallen behind so quickly.

'We tried to get back into the game too quickly,' he said. 'We lost our balance as a team. To an extent we played into their hands. It seemed as though every shot they had from outside the box flew into the top corner. It was as though it was destiny.'