Fergie fumes at United showing

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson apologised to fans after his side were dumped out of the Carling Cup by Crystal Palace on Wednesday night.

Glenn Murray headed an extra-time winner as the Championship outfit claimed a memorable 2-1 quarter-final win at Old Trafford.

Ferguson, who had made 10 changes for the tie, paid tribute to the visitors but was far from impressed by the performance of his own players, and told MUTV: "I don't know where to start to be honest. My apologies are to the fans because that was not a Manchester United performance."

He added: "I don't want to take anything away from Crystal Palace. I wish them every success and hope they get to the final because it was a fantastic, mammoth effort from them tonight. Every one of their players worked their socks off to try to get to the semi-final.

"I am just very disappointed."

Palace will now play Cardiff in a two-leg semi-final for a place at Wembley, having avoided big guns Liverpool and Manchester City in the draw.

The London side had gone to Old Trafford without scoring in their previous five games but manager Dougie Freedman felt his players showed great spirit and determination.

He said: "They should be proud of themselves. They stuck together and I think that was a really good cup tie between two teams who gave everything.

"In the last 15-20 minutes of extra time the desire shone through in the end. That is what they should be proud of.

"Sir Alex has a wonderful team, they kept on going."