Sir Alex Ferguson has leapt to the defence of record signing Dimitar Berbatov.
The Bulgarian's £30.75million transfer fee has been the subject of considerable debate and the critics were out in force again following Berbatov's woeful penalty miss in the FA Cup semi-final shoot-out defeat to Everton at Wembley.
"I don't see any evidence of Berbatov's season tailing off. He has missed a few games and overall on Sunday, I thought he did really well," said Ferguson.
He added: "He will get criticism because when you pay £30million for a player everyone thinks he should be able to score with a penalty kick," said Ferguson.
"He was upset and disappointed, as we all were."
While Ferguson's desire for victory could not be questioned after his rant at referee Mike Riley for failing to give a spot-kick when Danny Welbeck was brought down by Phil Jagielka in the second half, the Scot is not getting too down about the defeat.
After winning three successive shoot-outs, including last season's Champions League final, he knew a defeat was inevitable at some stage.
"Anyone can lose out a penalty kick shoot-out," he said.
"I cannot look upon it as a definition of the team's record. It is done, we just have to move on."
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