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LONDON - Manager Alex Ferguson was full of praise for two-goal Wayne Rooney after the soccer striker pushed Manchester United to a 2-1 home win over Portsmouth in the FA Cup fourth round today.
Substitute Rooney, who came on with half an hour to go, tapped in the opening goal after 77 minutes before adding the second with a sublime chip over keeper David James six minutes later.
"It was the vision to do it, and the audacity," Ferguson said.
"The boy's got the kind of courage to do that."
But he was less complimentary about the failure of the match officials to notice that Serbian defender Nemanja Vidic's 12th-minute header had crossed the line before being hooked clear by Portuguese midfielder Pedro Mendes.
"It's a corner kick and the linesman is in the right position, he's on the goalline and he can't see it. It's amazing," Ferguson said
"I've watched it .... it's not just inches over, it's a foot over."
Fortunes were reversed at Old Trafford in January 2005 when a disallowed goal from Mendes, then with Tottenham Hotspur, triggered a lengthy debate after a 0-0 draw in the Premier League.
A long-range lob from Mendes was spilled by Roy Carroll and went well over the goalline before the ball was scooped back by the United keeper.
Mendes was on the scoresheet for Portsmouth on Saturday with an 87th-minute effort which went in off team mate Nwankwo Kanu.
"Unfortunately we got a deflected goal against us which made it all a bit exciting towards the end but I thought we were in control," Ferguson said.
- REUTERS