By DPA
London : Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson believes Argentine forward Carlos Tevez is the new Eric Cantona, it emerged Monday.
Playing between the midfield and the front line, Cantona was central to United’s successes in the nineties and Ferguson used his programme notes for Tuesday’s Champions League tie against Lyon to place Tevez in the same bracket.
“Carlos reminds me of Eric Cantona in the way that he has a knack of rising to the occasion with a goal just when it’s needed,” Ferguson said.
“He often comes up with the goods away from home when you are up against it. I don’t think anything fazes him and he keeps his cool in the box.”
Tevez has hit 15 goals since joining United in the summer, including a vital equaliser away to Lyon in the first leg.
“Tevez is proving a master at scoring the really important goals – the ones that give you a win or a draw, especially away from home,” Ferguson said.
“He did it at Tottenham to salvage a point as he made the result 1-1. He scored for a 1-0 win at Liverpool and now he has rescued us again by finding the net late and nullifying Lyon’s lead.”
The last-16 tie is locked at 1-1.