Leonid Slutsky was left to lament Seydou Doumbia's crucial miss after CSKA Moscow lost 1-0 to Manchester United in the Champions League at Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Ivory Coast striker saw his initial shot kept out by David de Gea before being thwarted at the second attempt by in-form defender Chris Smalling after 77 minutes.
Two minutes later, Wayne Rooney headed in United's first goal in 404 minutes to secure maximum points for the hosts, and disappoint the CSKA coach.
"We tried to counter-attack. I think the [chance] with Seydou Doumbia contributed to the final result," he said.
"It's difficult to create chances in a game against Manchester United."
Rooney netted to end his own personal goal drought of four games and despite claims Jesse Lingard had been in an offside position before assisting the England international, Slutsky avoided speculating.
"I don't really want to comment [about the goal] because I haven't seen the replay yet. There was a big probability that United would create a lot of chances and we had to be attentive to that," he said.
"The players were not afraid. As I said, it's always difficult to play against such a strong team as Manchester United. We didn't have lots of possession, just as in the first game in Moscow."
United are top of Group B on seven points, three clear of CSKA – who are bottom.
