The game is over.  The scoreline in the history books.  The trophy is in the hands of Carlo Ancelotti and Chelsea FC.  But that has not stopped Sir Alex Ferguson from letting his feelings be known over a perceived elbow from Michael Ballack on Manchester United left back Patrice Evra that led to Frank Lampard’s goal 20 minutes from time.

Via Guardian 

“If the referee sees it properly, it’s a red card,” Ferguson said of Ballack’s body-check. “He’s elbowed him clearly. The referee’s in line and had a clear view so Ballack’s lucky. But he’s made a rod for his own back. He’d stopped the game twice already: when Nani was down and on a second occasion when Ballack went down. We’ve seen that before with him. I spoke to the referee [about that previous incident] and he said it was serious and Ballack needed treatment, though he was up straight away.

“The least he should have done is stop the game. When players are acting to get the game stopped, when they lose possession and lie down … it’s an area I’m concerned about. We’ve got to find a solution to that. You see it all the time when teams attack and then the other side go on a counter, so a player lies down in the penalty box to try and get the game stopped. It’s not right. The referee didn’t get it right today. You have to be consistent and he blew twice but not the third time.”

The Chelsea manager, Carlo Ancelotti, insisted his players were unaware that Evra was stricken on the ground – the Frenchman rose swiftly enough once the goal had been given – with Lampard saying: “It’s up to the referee to stop it. There had been an earlier incident when Michael Ballack went down and the referee stopped it and all the United players moaned.” United were actually down to nine men when Chelsea scored their second goal with Dimitar Berbatov having treatment on the sidelines, though their principal concern was the fitness of Nani.