Sir Alex Ferguson had no complaints about the artificial pitch at the Luzhniki Stadium after Manchester United beat CSKA 1-0.

A late Antonio Valencia goal secured victory against Champions League Group B opponents.

Valencia lashed the ball home after 86 minutes in Russia to give the visitors a 1-0 win and Ferguson had no issues with the controversial pitch.

"I said before the game that if you're a good footballer you concentrate on the ball. I think they did that and they did it well," Ferguson told Sky Sports 1.

"We wanted to go for a surge through the middle rather than in the wide positions and I think that worked quite well.

"We had some good chances at the end of the day, we improved our goalscoring chances and we're pleased Antonio Valencia has got a good goal."

Ferguson, who had half an eye on Sunday's Premier League meeting with Liverpool, played down a potential injury to Brazilian teenager Fabio, as well as Rio Ferdinand and Paul Scholes, who both came off in the second half.

"Fabio was absolutely outstanding today, the boy's magnificent for 18 years of age," he added.

"He's first-class, he just had some cramp, he'll be okay.

"I took Rio and Scholesy off mainly as a precaution."