London: Wayne Rooney said he is not to blame for the red card shown to Vincent Kompany that helped Manchester United beat Manchester City 3-2 in the FA Cup on Sunday.
Having stormed into a 3-0 lead and seen City captain Kompany sent off in the first half, United stumbled after the break against the holders before clinging on to win 3-2 and book a trip to Liverpool.
City manager Roberto Mancini said Rooney pressured referee Chris Foy into the 12th-minute red card after Kompany's two-footed challenge on Nani.
"Funny how people think i got kompany sent off," Rooney wrote on Twitter on Monday. "Im not ref. i didn't give red card. But it was a clear red card. 2 footed tackle."
City lodged an appeal on Monday against the red card and Kompany's four-game ban. The club said the hearing will be held ahead of Wednesday's League Cup semi-final first leg against Liverpool.
But United defender Rio Ferdinand also used Twitter to defend Foy's decision.
"How can there be any debate about the red card? You leave the ground with a two-foot tackle (equals) Red card. Fact."
United manager Alex Ferguson insisted he is "not concerned about the behavior" of Rooney.
"Nani is a lucky boy he didn't get a bad injury," Ferguson said. "I have no complaints about Wayne. I don't think it was unacceptable what he did. I think it was a natural reaction to a bad challenge."
Speaking about the game, he said, "We were 3-0 up at half-time and we thought we were through. (We) took our foot off the pedal."
City hauled themselves back into contention after strikes from Aleksandar Kolarov and Sergio Aguero, whose goal came after the ball was given away by United midfielder Paul Scholes hours after he surprisingly came out of retirement.
"It was a careless performance in the second half and we should have been home and dry," Ferguson said. "We made mistakes and you suffer if you make mistakes."
Similar mistakes have seen the champions lose back-to-back Premier League matches to slip three points behind leaders City, and despite the defeat, Sunday's game only strengthened Mancini's belief that he will deliver the club's first English title since 1968.
"If we show the same attitude and strength in other games that we showed against United with only 10 men, then yes we can win the league," the City manager said. "I said we had to improve and I think we are doing so."
"To play 80 minutes against one of the best teams in Europe with ten men and come so close to saving the game was fantastic."
Comments
0 comment