Sir Alex Ferguson issues apology to fans following cup exit

Following Manchester United's unexpected 2-1 loss to Crystal Palace in last night's Carling Cup quarter-final, Sir Alex Ferguson has issued an apology to Red Devils fans.

Darren Ambrose gave Palace the lead in the 66th minute, following an incredible strike from almost 40 yards out. Just two minutes later United levelled the scoring, as Federico Macheda sent Lewis Price the wrong way from the penalty spot. But it wasn't United's evening. Palace persevered throughout extra-time and finally found their opening in the 98th minute. Substitute Glenn Murray headed Wilfried Zaha's free-kick past Ben Amos, although the Palace striker appeared to be offside. While the Premiership and Champions League remain Ferguson's main priorities, meaning he had to rotate his squad, his starting line-up still boasted the likes of Park Ji-Sung, Dimitar Berbatov, Antonio Valencia and Jonny Evans. Ferguson said: "My apologies are to the fans today because that was not a Manchester United performance. "It was a fantastic, mammoth effort from Crystal Palace and it is very disappointing. I don’t want to take anything away from them, when it went to extra time I thought we must win it, but it was not to be. "Their second goal was offside and we’re not getting any luck from linesman, but it was a hard, hard game. They started well then we got a lot of possession but didn’t do anything with it. We played too much short passing and didn’t spread the game. Overall it has been a very disappointing night for Manchester United. It was hard for them but it won’t do them any harm."