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03/08/2001. Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted that his team were lucky to get a 1-1 draw away at Panathinikos, courtesy of a stoppage time equaliser by Paul Scholes, and said that they could have ended up with `a real  beating`.

The Greek side, already eliminated from the competition, showed no fear and took the game to United, scoring in the first half through Giorgios Seitardis, and Ferguson said, "We were lucky to draw, very lucky to draw." He added, "Panathinaikos made a lot of chances in  the game and should have beaten us by three or four goals. I think the reason was from our point of view, we started badly and never got going. Once they scored we were far too loose and we didn't show much patience about ourselves in that respect. In the second half we gambled a lot with the consequence that we could have had a real spanking, a real beating."

"You always hope a goal will come and the one quality we have always had is the ability to keep going and never give in. But I think that is the only thing I can take out of this game and a draw was very fortunate for us."

Fabien Barthez was the hero for United, pulling off a string of fine saves, and Ferguson said, "I think he proved he's the finest goalkeeper in the world. It was quite amazing the saves he made and he's the reason why we got a point out of it."

Panathinikos coach Stratos Apostolakis was disappointed at not winning, however still very proud of his team, stating, "This was a very good day for Panathinaikos and for Greek soccer. The players played very well and they found the strength and the power to play like we saw. However we still have the bitter taste of their last-minute goal. But what really matters is that   image of our team is good again."

Source:  SA UK