Curbs: penalty miss crucial

Alan Curbishley has hinted that he felt Cristiano Ronaldo's penalty miss today in the match between West Ham and Man Utd may have been crucial in the eventual outcome of the Premiership clash.

"I enjoyed it when it ended because you know Man Utd can get back at you at any time and they put us under a bit of pressure in the last 10 minutes," Curbishley told Sky Sports.

"It was a strange game, I think. It never really lifted off and we found ourselves 1-0 down against the run of play.

"The penalty miss was the big turning point as it not only gave us a chance to get back in it, but it galvanised the crowd and the crowd got up for it."

Meanwhile, Manchester United boss Alex Ferguson commented: "We were very aggressive about it and I changed the way we were going to play. I felt it was right.

"Dean Ashton has been playing in the last three or four games in 10 days and he needed a bit of a rest. I was hoping to introduce a fresh pair of legs to give us a lift and that is exactly what happened. He came on after the penalty miss and gave everybody a lift."