Rio Ferdinand has apologised for his challenge on Bacary Sagna and says that he is really sorry. United were relatively comfortable in Monday's Old Trafford encounter, only suffering one major scare when Edwin van der Sar parried Samir Nasri's second-half effort to Marouane Chamakh. Nemanja Vidic eventually extinguished the danger as he combined with Ferdinand to marshal the United defence to a deserved clean sheet.

However, Rio Ferdinand was in danger of failing to stay on the pitch during the second half of the top-of-the-table showdown, following a collision with Arsenal defender Sagna.