"The players showed great respect for each other," said Ferguson later.
"There was not a bad tackle in the game. It was played in a good spirit. We are pleased with that.
"To lose is a real sickening blow," he said. "We dominated the game in terms of possession. We did very well in that respect. But ... to lose the game is hard to believe.
"Some of our possession was good. Our movement off the ball was good. I thought we were in the driving seat."
United were without Wayne Rooney, Nani and Phil Jones because of ankle injuries.
Dalglish said his players deserved credit for the way they bounced back since losing 3-1 at struggling Bolton just over a week ago.
The Scot raised eyebrows after that dismal effort with an uncharacteristic public tirade against his squad's performance, accusing them of failing to live up to Liverpool's standards.
He could not have hoped for a more emphatic response in this week's heavyweight games against Manchester City and United.
After booking a place in the League Cup final against Cardiff City, they produced a spirited performance to overcome United after Park Ji-Sung had cancelled out Daniel Agger's opener for Liverpool.
Dalglish praised the way his squad had reacted after their humiliation at Bolton. "The week started badly for us at Bolton, but it's a fantastic credit to the players and how much pride they take in the club that they've got themselves back on track," he said. "They've come out on the right side of two huge cup games."
Although Evra was booed throughout the tie, Dalglish insisted both sets of fans were magnificent.
"There was a wee bit of banter between both fans, which is brilliant because we wouldn't want to take that away but, at the end of the day, I thought they were fantastic.
"The players were a great credit for that as well - none of them tried to do anything other than play football.
"I think both sets of fans were magnificent adverts for their clubs."
Chelsea progressed with a 1-0 win at Queens Park Rangers thanks to Juan Mata's second-half penalty.
Bolton beat Swansea 2-1 and Norwich won by the same scoreline at West Bromwich Albion in the other all-Premier League matchups. Stoke, who lost the 2011 final to Man City, also progressed with a 2-0 win at Derby.
Tottenham and Everton went through and Arsenal host Aston Villa today. Fourth-tier team Crawley provided the biggest upset by beating Hull, who are fifth in the second tier, 1-0. There are 45 places between the teams in English football's pyramid.
- AAP
