The Red Devils were left fuming at the award of a second half penalty to the Magpies that presented Ba with an opportunity to level from the spot. Sir Alex Ferguson blasted the match officials after the game, with the hosts disappointed to have seen two precious points slip through their grasp in the Premier League title race. Newcastle, though, had every right to feel aggrieved about the fact that they found themselves trailing at that stage Manchester United were dealt a huge slice of luck on 49 minutes when Steven Taylor, in attempting to clear a Wayne Rooney shot, hammered the ball into Javier Hernandez and was forced to watch on horror as it tricked back over the line. With the Red Devils having been slightly fortuitous in that instance, Magpies striker Ba feels luck evened itself out with the award of a contentious spot-kick. He told the Evening Chronicle: "My thoughts when we got the penalty was that, after the lucky goal they got, we needed to have a lucky goal as well. "We got it. We were very happy, even if we did not win. "We were playing with one man less (following Jonas Gutierrez's dismissal) yet we still kept our shape and gained a result." Having been entrusted with the responsibility from 12 yards on Saturday, Ba claims he was able to block out the pandemonium swirling around him and keep his full focus locked on the task in hand. He added: "I just took the ball and looked at the net - I just wanted the ball to hit the net."
