22 METROSPORT Wednesday, November 4, 2009 D Sir Alex Ferguson hit out at referee Olegario Benquerenca for not awarding his Manchester United side a penalty in the 3-3 draw with CSKA Moscow last night. The draw was enough to take United through to the last-16 but Ferguson was far from happy not to get a spot-kick when Darren Fletcher appeared to be tripped, the Scottish midfielder instead being booked for diving. Ferguson said of the decision: i cant believe the decision. its one of the worst ive seen in my lifetime. The Scot added: Their keeper made some fantastic saves. i thought the intensity of our play, particularly in the last 25 minutes, was terrific. Rooney sprung from bench to spark United comeback man united 3 cska moscow 3 WAYNE ROONEY celebrated the birth of new son Kai as Manchester United staged a stunning Champions League fightback at Old Trafford to reach the knockout stages. Sir Alex Fergusons men were heading to their first home defeat in Europe since losing to AC Milan in February 2005 when they trailed to CSKA Moscow by two goals with six minutes remaining. But a Paul Scholes header and a shot from Antonio Valencia, which was go- ing well wide until it was deflected in by Georgi Shchennikov, salvaged the draw. It was no more than United de- served as they fought back from the brink of a Group B upset. CSKA took the lead in the 25th minute when teenager Alan Dzagoev breezed past Jonny Evans as he burst into the United area before firing past Edwin van der Sar from an acute angle. The lead lasted just four min- utes when Nani flicked on a cross from Valencia to leave Michael Owen with a simple finish. But CSKA hit back in the 31st minute as Milos Krasic calmly beat the offside trap, went past Van der Sar and slotted home. And they increased their lead two minutes after the restart when Vasili Berezutsky was left unmarked to head in a Dzagoev free-kick at the far post. Rooney was brought on for Nani and United were denied a clear penalty when Darren Fletcher was fouled and Federico Macheda hit a post before Scholes header and Valencias last- gasp deflected shot saved the day. Fergie hammers ref over penalty Leveller: Michael Owen, centre, accepts the plaudits after netting Uniteds first on a remarkable night at Old Trafford Picture: Getty Manchester United: Van der Sar, Neville, Brown, Evans, Fabio (Evra 59), Valencia, Fletcher, Scholes, Nani (Rooney 58), Owen, Macheda (Obertan 81), Booked: Fletcher, Macheda. CSKA Mosocw: Akinfeev, A Berezutsky, V Berezutsky, Ignashevich, Shchennikov, Krasic, Semberas, Aldonin, Mamaev, Necid, Dzagoev (Carvahlo 72). Booked: Necid, Semberas. Referee: Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal). MATCH FACTS socceR ChAMpiOnS LeAgUe By dAnny gRiffiThS Kevin DOyle is quietly confident the republic of ireland can shock star-studded France and qualify for the World Cup in South Africa next summer. The Wolves and ireland striker says he is relieved Giovanni Trapattonis side have drawn the French in the play-offs, claiming the pressure is off. in a way, im glad, said Doyle. i didnt mind who we got in the draw, even though we were giving out about the seeding. But i didnt mind. France, in a way, will take the pressure off a little bit, because people will think its France and theyre former World Champions and have world-class players. if we do well, we do well. But they are in the play-offs for a reason, they havent been playing so well so i fancy our chances against them. i think if we had got a so-called lesser team like Greece, more pressure would have been on us. People would have expected us to win the games. We usually do better as a slight underdog. Doyle also spoke of Trapattonis now famous mentality being crucial and agreeing ireland have nothing to fear. His saying is football is football, said Doyle of the italian. its just another team and for a lot of us its in our head, our mentality, he uses that word a lot and hes right. We can go anywhere and beat anyone and i think were starting to believe that. Were confident, all the players are. its two games. its not a whole qualifying campaign. its down to two games. its sort of a relief in that way, everyone will know that its over. its been a long campaign and weve gone unbeaten. Well know in two weeks or not whether were going to the World Cup. Weve been talking about it for a long time so im just looking forward to finding out. Doyles unfazed by favoured French Quietly confident: doyle woRld cup play-off Dizzy spell gave Ireland death scare STEPhEN IRELAND feared he was going to die when he was rushed to hospital after complaining of dizziness during Manchester Citys Carling Cup tie with Fulham in September. The City midfielder had no other player near him when he suddenly felt unwell and was promptly substituted by boss Mark hughes. When his symptoms failed to improve, he was taken to hospital for tests and revealed: At the time, I thought that was the end of me. I have had every test there is and I still dont know what it was, but it was a bit of a strange scare. It took me a while to get right but I am back on track. Everything is looking positive. For fallout from last nights games go to metro.co.uk/football index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html