"Liverpool were by far the better team in the first half. They had more conviction than us and I was disappointed with our display," admitted Ferguson.
"For 25 minutes in the second half we were much better and that's when the goals came. But when they scored towards the end we knew we'd be hanging on by the skin of our teeth.
"I think Liverpool can rightly say they didn't carry a great deal of luck today. The same happened to them against Arsenal when they played recently. They were unfortunate to lose that one as well.
"The good thing about Liverpool is they do the right things and they will stand by their manager. Gerard has brought four trophies to this club and people must remember that.
"Sometimes in life you don't get things going your way. It's happened to us at times and now it's happening to Liverpool. But I still expect them to be up there in the top five at the end of the season."