Losing the match, Mancini blamed... Rooney

The Italian strategist believes that the English striker influenced the referee to send off Vincent Kompany. Playing with one less man and being behind led to The Citizens later losing 2-3 to Man Utd.

Last night Man City lost 2-3 to Man Utd in the third round of the FA Cup. One of the main reasons for the defeat of The Citizens was because the home team had to play with one less player when the match had just entered the 12th minute.

Man City captain Vincent Kompany had a dangerous two-footed tackle on the visiting midfielder Nani. Although the Portuguese player jumped to avoid the malicious tackle, referee Chris Foy still decided to show Kompany a red card and send him off.

Before referee Chris Foy made his decision on the above play, a few Red Devils players, including R10, ran up and complained to the king of the field. According to coach Mancini, Rooney even raised two fingers, implying that Kompany's rough tackle with both feet should be sent off. The Italian strategist said that the king in black was threatened by R10 and had to listen.

“Rooney gave the referee Foy a tip (about Kompany’s sending off). But I don’t want to talk about the referee. I want to be on the bench in the next games (instead of criticizing the referee and being banned). But we will appeal Kompany’s red card,” said coach Mancini.

While coach Mancini expressed dissatisfaction with the red card of The Citizens captain, Sir Alex Ferguson said it was completely reasonable. Not only that, the old man said Kompany had committed similar fouls in the past and was also sent off.

“I have seen him tackle like that. He was sent off afterwards. If he had collided with Nani in that phase, something bad would have happened (to Nani) immediately.”

Whether Rooney influenced the referee's decision or not is still questionable. However, R10 did have a big influence on the outcome of the Manchester derby last night. The main striker of the Premier League champions opened the scoring for the Red Devils in the 10th minute. And he was also the one who scored the goal to make it 3-0 for Man Utd before the end of the first half.

With a 3-goal lead, even though Man Utd later conceded 2 goals, the away team still won and entered the 4th round of the FA Cup. Man City was eliminated.

According to Bongdaso.com