Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admits Everton pushed them all the way yesterday.

United emerged 1-0 winners thanks to Javier Hernandez's first-half goal.

Ferguson told TV reporters: "It was a hard game and we expected that because every time you come to Everton the crowd get behind them and show great enthusiasm.

"But in the main, in the first half particularly, we did very well and in the second half we defended well and that was the pleasing aspect for me, winning 1-0.

"We decided to play Park (Ji-sung) in a wide position and he did very well for us but we still created the best chances in the game - Park the very first minute.

"Everton put in a lot of crosses but we managed to get them away and (David) De Gea didn't have much to do really."