Owen reckons his goals are not full story

Published on Wednesday 28 October 2009 09:07

MANCHESTER UNITED striker Michael Owen scored his third goal of the season in the Carling Cup victory against Barnsley but remains bewildered by what some people expect of him.

Owen found the target in the 59th minute of the 2-0 win with a clinical finish at Oakwell following a ball from Fabio.

Danny Welbeck had put United in the driving seat after five minutes when he headed home a corner from Anderson.

Owen said: "A start and a goal, you can't ask for more than that. It is how people judge me unfortunately.

"I started a game against Bolton and was pretty pleased and thought I played pretty well. Then I looked at the papers and was given a three or four.

"But in this game I played pretty average and scored a goal and I'll probably get seven out of 10. I think I deserved a five in this game and seven or eight from the Bolton game."

Manager Sir Alex Ferguson said: "It was a fantastic goal, he had such quick feet, it was a marvellous finish."

It was a comfortable victory for United even though Gary Neville was red-carded in the 63rd minute for clattering into Adam Hammill. Ferguson had no quarrel with referee Chris Foy for dismissing Neville and he now faces a three-match ban.

He said: "I've just seen the sending off, and Gary did follow through with the tackle and caught the player."