Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he was shocked that Manchester United allowed Arsenal to blow the Premiership title race wide open with their 2-1 win at the Emirates Stadium in London on Sunday.
Ferguson's side led 1-0 at Arsenal with just seven minutes to play after Wayne Rooney's 53rd minute header.
But, with United looking set to extend their lead over second placed Chelsea to nine points, Arsenal staged a late fightback to snatch the points and give Jose Mourinho's side fresh hope of retaining their crown.
PHOTO: AP
Robin van Persie equalized in the 83rd minute and then, as United tried to hold on for a point, Thierry Henry found space in the penalty area to bury an injury time header past Edwin van der Sar and seal a dramatic 2-1 victory.
The defeat was cruel on United, who remain six points ahead of Chelsea, and Ferguson revealed he could not see how Arsenal would get back into the match.
"We're disappointed. I need to really analyse how we lost the goals," Ferguson said.
"There wasn't a moment in the game I worried about. The position we were in, we defended well and they resorted to long balls to be honest with you. We were coping with that great and I couldn't see anything that was going to disturb us. I took Henrik [Larsson] off for the last nine minutes or so, tried to get a change with Louis' [Saha] pace up front and we've lost two goals from positions where I didn't think we'd lose goals. But that's football," he said.
The defeat was United's first in seven matches since they lost 1-0 at West Ham last month, but Ferguson's only complaint was that his side had sat back after taking the lead.
"These games are always difficult. You can't say you are going to dominate a game for 90 minutes. Arsenal had moments in the game when they had control of possession, particularly in the second half, and maybe we sat back a little bit whereas in the first half we controlled it. But our form is good and I thought today we had the best player on the pitch in Michael Carrick. I thought he was absolutely magnificent. With that kind of ability and players like that we know we are going to be alright," he said.
Arsene Wenger insisted Arsenal's win gave renewed hope that his side and Liverpool, as well as Chelsea, could still catch United.
Arsenal are 12 points behind the leaders but, after completing their second win over United this season, Wenger is adamant they are still in the race.
"It will open it up for everybody. For us and Liverpool a little bit less but you never know. With 10 minutes to go United were maybe champions but at the end of a game you cannot say that now. It is more open again," he said.
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