Red card Cristiano Ronaldo defended by Fergie over handball

Sir Alex Ferguson defended Cristiano Ronaldo after the United winger's dismissal for deliberate handball in yesterday's 150th Manchester derby.

Ronaldo was shown a second yellow card in the 69th minute when he inexplicably palmed the ball with both hands from a Wayne Rooney corner.

Despite his protests, he was sent off for the second time in three seasons at Eastlands. But Rooney's 100th club goal was enough to give United the win that kept them in touch in the title race.

Ronaldo's red card proved the game's talking point and Fergie claimed: "I've seen it again and he was trying to protect himself from the ball hitting his face. He may have got a little shove as well.

"He thought he'd heard the referee's whistle. But I'm not going to get into the refereeing, we'd be here all day. Sometimes you have to overcome things and we've done that today. With 10 men we proved ourselves.

"In the first-half we were absolutely magnificent - we dominated the match.

"For 10 minutes at the start of the second, they stepped up their game and had a couple of shots at goal.

"But they weren't really a big threat. We had to play the last 20-odd minutes with 10 men.

"We soaked up some pressure but handled it very well and got the win we deserved."

City boss Mark Hughes had a less charitable view of Ronaldo's dismissal. "I don't think the ref had any choice," said Hughes.

"I don't know what reason Ronaldo will give for handling the ball, but if it was going to hit him in the face, why didn't he head it?

"We're disappointed with the result. We didn't play at the level we have done in recent games and perhaps playing in the UEFA Cup on Thursday took its toll. But it's no disgrace to lose to a team like United."

Ronaldo's dismissal fell kindly for United because he will be banned from Wednesday's Carling Cup tie against Blackburn - a game he was unlikely to play in anyway - and will be available for Saturday's Premier League visit by Sunderland.

But United will be fined £50,000 by the FA for picking up more then five bookings in a game for a second time this season.

United midfielder Michael Carrick said: "It was tough but we defended great as a team and this was a big result for us."

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