After the defeat, Mancini blamed... Rooney.

The Italian strategist claimed that the English striker had influenced the referee, leading the official to issue a red card and send Vincent Kompany off. Playing with ten men and trailing, The Citizens subsequently lost to Man Utd 2-3.

Last night, Man City lost to Man Utd 2-3 in the third round of the FA Cup. One of the main reasons for The Citizens' defeat was that the home team had to play with ten men from just 12 minutes into the match.

Manchester City's captain and central defender Vincent Kompany made a dangerous two-footed tackle on visiting midfielder Nani. Although the Portuguese player managed to jump away from the malicious challenge, referee Chris Foy still decided to show Kompany a red card and send him off.

Before referee Chris Foy made his decision in that incident, several Manchester United players, including Rooney, ran up to the referee to complain. According to manager Mancini, Rooney even raised two fingers, implying that Kompany's rough two-footed tackle deserved a red card. The Italian strategist believes the referee was intimidated by Rooney and had to comply.

“Rooney tipped off referee Foy (about sending off Kompany). But I don’t want to talk about the referee. I want to be on the sidelines in the next matches (instead of criticizing the referee and being banned from the touchline). But we will appeal Kompany’s red card,” said manager Mancini.

While manager Mancini expressed his dissatisfaction with the red card given to the Citizens' captain, Sir Alex Ferguson believed it was entirely justified. Furthermore, the veteran manager noted that Kompany had committed a similar foul in the past and also received a red card.

"I've seen him make a tackle like that before. He was sent off afterward. If he had made contact with Nani in that play, something terrible would have happened (to Nani) immediately."

Whether Rooney influenced the referee's decisions remains questionable. However, R10 certainly had a significant impact on the outcome of last night's Manchester derby. The star striker for the reigning Premier League champions opened the scoring for the Red Devils in the 10th minute. And it was he who scored the third goal for Man Utd before the end of the first half.

Despite leading by three goals and conceding two, Man Utd still secured the victory and advanced to the fourth round of the FA Cup. Man City were eliminated.

According to Bongdaso.com