Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of his last Manchester United home match as his side collected the Barclays Premier League trophy for the 13th time.
Ferguson's 723rd match at Old Trafford ended in victory against Swansea City thanks to Rio Ferdinand's first goal for five years.
After the match the 71-year-old joined his players on the pitch and addressed the crowd, saying: "I have been very fortunate. I've been able to manage some of the greatest players in the country, let alone Manchester United.
"My retirement doesn't mean the end of my life with the club. I’ll be able to now enjoy watching them rather than suffer with them."
With the title already secured and Swansea comfortably in the top half of the table, there was a carnival atmosphere at Old Trafford with Ferguson firmly in the spotlight.
Both sets of players formed a guard of honour to welcome him out of the tunnel before kick-off and the scoreboard showed the figures 26:38 to mark his years in charge and number of trophies won.
Midfielder Paul Scholes was also bidding farewell to the home crowd in his 717th appearance for the club, having announced his retirement.
Javier Hernandez put United ahead in the 39th minute when he made the most of a misplaced clearance by Ashley Williams to fire home a low shot.
Four minutes after halftime Swansea were level when Michu superbly flicked in Nathan Dyer's cross for his 18th Barclays Premier League goal of the season.
Wayne Routledge missed a great chance to put the Swans ahead and David de Gea denied Pablo Hernandez.
But the final word went to Ferdinand who arrived at the far post to power the ball into the net and give Ferguson's big day a fitting send-off.
Story By: premierleague.com
No comments:
Post a Comment