Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admits he has sympathy with Ireland over Thierry Henry's handball which cost them their place in World Cup 2010, largely because he believes United suffered the same fate recently in the Premier League.

Cast your mind back to two weeks ago, and a typically tense West London occasion as Chelsea hosted Manchester United at Stamford Bridge.

To any neutral observer The Red Devils were the team who probably just about edged it over 90 minutes. At worst, Alex Ferguson's men deserved a point.

But in controversial circumstances, they were denied even that when John Terry headed home from a set-piece in the latter stages of the game.

The Scot raged on three counts: Firstly that the free kick shouldn't have been awarded against Darren Fletcher whose challenge on Ashley Cole was legitimate - he had a case. Secondly, that Didier Drogba hauled down Wes Brown in the box as the free kick was taken, and thirdly that the African powerhouse was interfering with play in an offside position.

Ferguson was livid when the goal stood, and understandably so. Though the infringements weren't as blatant as Henry's disgraceful handball against the Irish, Fergie admitted he had sympathy for Trapattoni's charges, especially having been on the receiving end of a similar incident himself.


“My thoughts were with Trapattoni,” said Ferguson.

“He prepared the Ireland team and got an absolute magnificent performance from them.

"You couldn’t ask for better from a coach and it’s been taken away from him. It’s denied a couple of our players the chance to play in the World Cup and you can’t get a better experience than that.

"But two weeks ago Drogba pulled down Brown and there was obviously not a hullabaloo like this.

The angry Scot then suggested the incident could even cost his side the league title this season.

"But does that incident cost Manchester United the League? It could very well cost us it. That’s how important decision-making can be."