Statistics & Post-Match Quotes: Sunderland 0-1 Manchester United

TEAM STATISTICS

* Michael Carrick (central-midfield): 73/78 passing (94%), 0 key passes, 0/0 crosses, 1/2 long balls, 0/0 through balls, 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, 1 shot (0 on target)

* Paul Scholes (central-midfield): 98/103 passing (95%), 0 key passes, 0/0 crosses, 11/13 long balls, 0/0 through balls, 1 tackle, 4 interceptions, 1 shot (0 on target)

* Antonio Valencia (right-winger): 38/43 passing (88%), 3 key passes, 1/6 crosses, 0/0 long balls, 0/0 through balls, 3 successful dribbles, 2 fouls won, 4 tackles, 1 interception, 2 shots (1 on target)

* Ashley Young (left-winger | substituted off 82'): 35/48 passing (73%), 3 key passes, 2/6 crosses, 2/4 long balls, 0/2 though balls, 1 successful dribble, 2 fouls won, 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 shots (1 on target)

* Ryan Giggs (attacking-midfielder): 42/52 passing (81%), 1 key pass, 1/5 crosses, 2/3 long balls, 0/0 through balls, 1 successful dribble, 1 foul won, 0 tackles, 1 interception, 5 shots (3 on target)

* Wayne Rooney (striker): 37/44 passing (84%), 0 key passes, 0/2 crosses, 3/3 long balls, 0/0 through balls, 0 successful dribbles, 4 fouls win, 5 shots (2 on target), 1 goal

* Nani (left-winger | substituted on 82'): 8/8 passing, 0 key passes, 0/0 crosses, 0/0 long balls, 0/0 through balls, 0 successful dribbles, 0 fouls won, 0 tackles, 0 interceptions, 0 shots

POST-MATCH QUOTES

Sir Alex Ferguson | MUFC manager (courtesy of MUTV)

(On the season...) "I think we can take great credit. We’ve had to contend with a lot of injuries this season so I’ve had to change the team around a lot. That didn’t always help us. I have absolutely no recriminations about our season at all. Yes, there were times we can look back and say we’ve done this wrong or we’ve done that wrong, but 89 points would have won the league in most seasons. At the start of the season I said 82 points would probably win it. And we’ve gone seven points ahead of that. It doesn’t matter, though. We’ve lost the league. There’s nothing we can do about it. We congratulate Manchester City. Anyone who wins the league deserves to win it because it’s a very difficult league to win."

(On this being a lesson learned for the younger players...) "They’re a good bunch of lads. The younger players will remember today. Sometimes a bad experience is even better for you. When you have a good character and a certain purpose about you then you shouldn’t fear the future."

(On the performance versus Sunderland...) "We did our best today and but for their goalkeeper we could have scored seven goals. We hit the post, the bar, their goalkeeper made some fantastic saves. We conducted ourselves in the right way. It was a good level of performance. Well done to the players: Sunderland’s not an easy place to come to. They’re very committed, as you expect from a Martin O’Neill team. We came out with a lot of credit. For us it’s a challenge and we’re good at challenges. We’ll kick on from here."

(On Manchester City winning the title...) "I would like to say on behalf of Manchester United, congratulations to our neighbours. It is a fantastic achievement to win the Premier League, it’s not easy to win, it’s the hardest league in the world and anyone that wins it deserves it. We knew there were five minutes of injury time being played there, one of our assistant referees informed us of that. Our game only had three [added] minutes so for two minutes [after our final whistle] we didn’t know that was happening. Of course, they got the break and won the game. It was a cruel way but we’ve experienced many ups and downs in the 25 years that I’ve been here and most of them have been great moments. We have won the league three times in the last five seasons and we nearly did it again today. All we had to do, I said it before the game to the lads, was concentrate on our job because you are going to get certain types of reaction from the fans - you saw that from our fans and from Sunderland’s when City scored a third goal. You just have to put that to one side and concentrate on your own game, which I think we did pretty well."

Rio Ferdinand | MUFC defender (courtesy of Sky Sports)

(On losing the title...) "It's a cruel way to have lost it. But you have to congratulate the other team. Any team that wins it obviously deserves it and they have played well throughout the season. It's now about us dusting ourselves down and winning the title back next season. This year we've had to use our squad to the maximum and that bodes well for the future. That's one positive we can take from this. I don't think any other team could have coped the way we have."

(On trying to follow the City game versus QPR...) "I got the word during the game that City had scored to make it 2-2. Then, after our game finished, it went flat and silent, with everyone waiting. The cheers from the home supporters let us know City had scored and the title had gone to them. It's disappointing."