Sir Alex Ferguson condemns Rio Ferdinand incident

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has condemned the Manchester City fan who threw a coin at Rio Ferdinand during the derby on Sunday.

The Red Devils defender was hit by a coin thrown from the crowd while celebrating Robin van Persie's injury-time winner at the Etihad Stadium.

A City fan also ran on to the pitch towards the 34-year-old, but was stopped from getting too close to him by Citizens goalkeeper Joe Hart.

"It's unfortunate that a City fan runs on and coins are thrown," said Ferguson. "That shouldn't happen.

"The same thing happened at Chelsea, which was masked by all the other things. We could have done without that.

"At Chelsea, We had half a seat thrown onto the pitch as well as coins and lighters, and nothing was done about it. It's a problem. As for today, I'm going to dismiss it from my mind because it was such a good game."

The 3-2 win put United six points clear of City at the top of the Premier League table.