Ferguson content with narrow lead

By Graham Chase

MANCHESTER (Reuters) - Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson said he was happy to take a slim lead to Arsenal next week after John O'Shea's goal gave his side a 1-0 win in the Champions League semi-final first leg on Wednesday.

The European champions dominated their Premier League rivals at Old Trafford but could not add to O'Shea's 17th-minute effort with Cristiano Ronaldo going closest to a second with a dipping shot against the crossbar.

"The most pleasing aspect is that before the game we said try and win and not lose a goal and we have done that and the performance level was very good so we have achieved that and I think we have given ourselves a good chance overall," Ferguson told a news conference.

"We have players who can score goals and we will be a goal threat at their ground but the tie is not over.

"Arsenal manager Arsene (Wenger) will be thinking it's been a good day for him, he could be out of the tie but he is not.

"We always do things the hard way and this is another night when we have got our fans frustrated where we maybe should be into the final but we are not but we have done that many times.

"We did it in the last round and we will have to go through the process of taking the game to the wire probably."

Ferguson feels the fact that United have to win their next Premier League game Middlesbrough to maintain control of the title race while there is less pressure on Arsenal against Portsmouth is good for Wenger's men.