MANCHESTER UNITED legend Rio Ferdinand has recalled exactly what Sir Alex Ferguson said after rivals Manchester City won the Premier League title back in 2012.
City snatched the Prem trophy straight from the hands of Ferguson and Co on a dramatic final day twelve years ago.
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United provisionally held the top spot following a 1-0 win over Sunderland – while Roberto Mancini’s side were level at 2-2 with Queens Park Rangers.
However, Sergio Aguero scored a last-gasp winner for City to clinch the league title.
Man Utd players went from delight to despair within a matter of moments at the Stadium of Light.
Recalling the occasion with Ferdinand on his Rio Presents YouTube channel, ex-defender Phil Jones explained: “We’re away at Sunderland, we win the game 1-0. Our game’s finished and I walked off the pitch, and Berber’s [Dimitar Berbatov] gone to me, ‘it’s done, it’s done,’ so I think we’ve done it.
“So I’m thinking, we’ve done it, we’ve won the league.
“And anyway, as it transpires the game’s not finished. Then, obviously, I can’t even name him, goes and scores and that was it.
“The feeling… I’ve never been in a dressing room like that before. Never.”
He was then asked about Ferguson’s reaction, to which Ferdinand chimed in to reply: “He said, ‘you experienced players, you’ve run this course, you’ve been here.
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“‘But you young ones,’ and he named you, Chris Smalling, Welbs [Danny Welbeck], Clevs [Tom Cleverley] etc.
“He went, ‘you listen now and you remember the faces out there,’ because the Sunderland fans were laughing at us and they were cheering when the goal went in.
“So he said, ‘you remember their faces, you remember what it’s like and you remember this feeling here, now, the day you come back into pre-season next season. You don’t let that happen again.’
“And we won the league the next season.”
Man Utd went on to win the Premier League in 2013 to end Ferguson’s 27-year spell as manager on a high.
