Sir Alex rues United's

Manchester United FC manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes the holders should have made more of their chances after John O'Shea scored the only goal of a UEFA Champions League semi-final against Arsenal FC that they dominated, although he suggested keeping a clean sheet could be "key to it all". Not for the first time, the Scot was left to reflect on his team's tendency to make life hard for themselves, while his opposite number Arsène Wenger admitted his side had not been at their best. Wenger, though, remains confident the situation can be retrieved in the second leg next Tuesday, explaining: "I'm convinced you'll see a different Arsenal."

Of course [I'm disappointed]. We had good chances and their goalkeeper made one or two fantastic saves. However, we said before the game to win without conceding a goal and we've achieved that. The performance level was good and we've given ourselves a good chance of going through, but of course the tie isn't over. We know we can score at their ground. We haven't lost a goal and I think that's key to it all. [Wenger] has to be confident, he'll be thinking it's a good day for him – they could have been out of the tie and they're not. Our fans are frustrated, we could be into the final and we're not, but that's the nature of the club. We did it the hard way in the last round against Porto too. Arsenal had possession but without doing anything with it. We contained them very well. I don't think that's the fault of Arsenal, that's down to our defenders. When we concentrate well, we can do that.

O'Shea took [the goal] really well, the ball deflected off one of the defenders and came off the surface quite quickly, but he controlled it well. It was a good finish. John is one of the great professionals, he never complains and is happy to play anywhere. He knows that over the years he's not always been a No1 choice but he makes a contribution we've been grateful for. He's so versatile he can play in many positions and that's of great value to us. This season he's played a lot more games because of the injuries we've had and if you asked me now if he'd be in the team for the final I'd have to say yes.