Ferguson rues 'worst ever day'

Sir Alex Ferguson says Manchester United's thrashing by Manchester City was the "worst result in my history".

City, the Barclays Premier League leaders, stormed into Old Trafford to rout their 10-man rivals 6-1 and send out an ominous warning to their title rivals.

It was United's heaviest derby defeat since 1926, their first loss at home in 18 months and left them trailing City by five points in the table.

Ferguson said: "It was our worst ever day. It's the worst result in my history, ever. Even as a player I don't think I ever lost 6-1. That's a challenge for me too.

"I can't believe the scoreline. The first goal was a blow for sure but it was retrievable at 1-0.

"The sending off was a killer for us. We kept attacking when we went 4-1 down and we should have just said, 'We've had our day'."

City striker Mario Balotelli began the rout with a first-half opener.

He was then the man fouled as Jonny Evans earned a straight red card and added a second before Sergio Aguero slid in the third.

Darren Fletcher pulled one back but Edin Dzeko came off the bench to score twice as City ran their hosts ragged in the closing minutes wuth David Silva also hitting the target.

Ferguson added: "We just kept attacking. They were attacking three versus two. It was crazy football.

"I thought with the experience we've got - Rio Ferdinand, Patrice Evra - they would (have defended more) but we just kept attacking. Sometimes there has to be common sense about it. It was a bad day."