'We Knew If We Got a Result We'd Be in a Fantastic Position'

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Manchester United yesterday took their biggest lead at the top of the Premier League in 12 years with a 2-0 victory over Everton that takes them 12 points clear of the champions Manchester City with 12 games left to play.

With the Real Madrid manager, Jose Mourinho, in the stands before Wednesday's Champions League last 16 first leg at the Bernabeu, Ferguson said that he had changed his team to take advantage of City's 3-1 defeat to Southampton on Saturday.

He said: "I was going to make seven changes, then, when I got the result, I thought this would be a more important game for us.

"It would give us a comfortable lead and we could make changes later on in the season. …