Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted Everton were the better side in the second half after the Red Devils slumped to a 3-1 defeat at Goodison Park on Saturday.

The Old Trafford outfit pulled off an impressive 3-2 win at AC Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday night (United 11/2 Outright) but their Premier League title hopes have taken a blow after coming unstuck at the Toffees.

Ferguson shuffled his pack against David Moyes’ side and was rewarded when Dimitar Berbatov, on his return to the side, opened the scoring on 16 minutes.

But the Blues hit back through Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (19), Dan Gosling (76) and Jack Rodwell in the last minute to condemn United to their fifth away defeat in the league of the campaign.

Afterwards Fergie told Sky Sports: “We were well beaten, it’s as simple as that.

“Second half we were outplayed. Maybe we left something in Milan, we looked tired, but when you are going for the championship you expect Manchester United  to respond to the importance of the game.

“We started the game well enough but the equaliser galvanised them and gave them an incentive. The second half they were better.”

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