O'Neill: We Were Capable Of Beating United

Martin O'Neill felt his side deserved better against Manchester United in Saturday's FA Cup game.

United won 2-0 thanks to late strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to continue their magnificent record at Villa Park.

"It seems as if they just turn up here, we play as well as we can but they go home either with the points in a league game or victory in an FA Cup match," lamented O'Neill to BBC Sport.

Replay

"I don't think that we deserved to lose the game, but by the same token I'm not saying we did enough ourselves to win the match.

"I thought the game was heading for a replay and I'm sure Manchester United would probably have accepted that.

"But we made a mistake ourselves which has been very costly," commented O'Neill on United's opener, in which a Ryan Giggs ball was allowed to squeeze past the Villa back four and into the path of the waiting Ronaldo.

"The second goal was immaterial really - we were trying to charge forward trying to get an equalising goal and they hit us on the break."

Records Don't Matter

O'Neill furthered that he wasn't intimidated by United's record against Villa - all that concerns him is what has happened during his reign at the club. And though they lost once again, then Ulsterman reckons they gave a much better account of themselves than in previous encounters.

"Today I thought we were capable of changing it," he said. "I actually thought we didn't start too badly, but we didn't put them under enough pressure in terms of shots on goal. Right throughout the whole game I thought we were capable of winning it. Manchester United are a top class side, they've got great players and experienced players, but at half time we were well in the game.

"We're making progress, there's no doubt about that and we've got some big league games to come," continued O'Neill. "But I love this competition... I've never won it and it's bypassed us for another year."