Manchester United were unlucky: Midfielder Fellaini

Wolfsburg, Dec 9: Manchester United midfielder Marouane Fellaini believes luck was not on visitors' side after they lost 2-3 to VfL Wolfsburg and exited the European Champions League.

The Belgian international on Tuesday said the team must quickly move on from the failure to reach the last 16 of the Champions League and focus instead on the English Premier League (EPL).

Wolfsburg needed a victory to secure the top spot in Group B whereas United were in need of a victory or a loss by Dutch side PSV Eindhoven to guarantee their progression. But they lost and PSV beat CSKA Moscow to qualify.

“I think we created a lot of chances to win this game tonight. In the box, they defended well and their goalkeeper also did well. The luck was not there today,” Fellaini was quoted as saying by club’s official website on Tuesday.

Fellaini might have put the Reds ahead during the first half at the Volkswagen Arena when his header was superbly saved by Wolfsburg goalkeeper Diego Benaglio, but instead the hosts broke away to take the lead at the other end in a passage of play which the Belgian believes summed up the game.

“I think my chance was a big one to score, but their goalkeeper made a great save. The last ten minutes we played with ten men, with eleven it was not easy but with ten it was more difficult," he said.

"They scored three goals, two from set pieces, so I think we should have defended better; more tight and more aggressive,” he said.

“It is difficult for us and we are disappointed. We can look back at the group stage; we should have won against PSV in the first game in Holland and then we drew against PSV at home. But we now have to forget this disappointment, pick ourselves up very quickly and focus on the next game."

Anthony Martial had given United an early lead before the Wolfsburg fightback, netting his first goal in 14 games. Fellaini was delighted to see his young teammate back among the goals, and hopes it's a sign of things to come ahead of the busy festive period.

“It was a very good finish and a good attack as well. I hope for him now that he continues to score, because December is important and a big period in the league too. There are a lot of games coming up, so I hope he scores more goals,” the 28-year-old midfielder concluded.