Sir Alex Ferguson's Surprising Reaction To Roy Carroll's Infamous Mistake Against Tottenham

Sir Alex Ferguson had a surprising reaction to Roy Carroll's infamous mistake against Tottenham as the ex-Manchester United manager paid a compliment to the goalkeeper in the dressing room.

Carroll lifted the lid on Ferguson's reaction to him fumbling Pedro Mendes' long-range shot at Old Trafford during their Premier League clash in 2005.

He clumsily fumbled the ball across the goal-line before clawing it away as the linesman failed to award the goal with the match ending in a goalless draw.

The Northern Ireland stopper expected to face the full wrath of Ferguson, but the then United boss actually complimented the player as he asked "what happened?"

He explained: "I've kept that video. I'm going to show that to every kid in my schools.

"Because what the biggest problem I did there was I didn't concentrate, I didn't look at the ball the whole way.

"And all I was trying to do was throw the ball out to Gary Neville on the right side and I took my eye off the ball.

"The easiest shots are the hardest shots to save. It wasn't even a shot, it was a loopy back-pass for some reason."

Carroll added: "All I can remember is after the game Sir Alex Ferguson said to me 'what happened?'

"And I thought he was going to give me the hairdryer treatment but he never.

"I just said I took my eye off the ball and he said 'to be fair, good reactions.'

"I never gave up, that's the thing, I never gave up. But the ball wasn't over the line!

"I've got a photo of it and the line is like that [draws a curved goal-line]. I can laugh about it now but I apologise to all the Spurs fans."

Of course, Carroll and United wouldn't have gotten away with it today following the introduction of goal-line technology.

The incident, which happened 16 years ago today, remains etched in Premier League history.

A moment Carroll, Mendes and Spurs fans will never forget.