Man U manager insists referee got it wrong as Chelsea win Community Shield 4-2 on penalties
Man U manager insists referee got it wrong as Chelsea win Community Shield 4-2 on penalties
Alex Ferguson claimed Michael Ballack should have been sent off for the foul on Patrice Evra that ignited a furious row during Chelsea's Community Shield victory over Manchester United yesterday.
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Salomon Kalou slots in a penalty to ensure Chelsea beat Manchester United 4-2 via tie-breaker to lift Community Shieldu00a0 PIC/GETTY IMAGES |
Ballack pole-axed Evra with a cynical elbow during the second half at Wembley and Chelsea then ignored United's appeals to allow the defender to receive treatment by breaking to score through Frank Lampard.
The Blues eventually won 4-1 on penalties after a 2-2 draw to end United's two-year reign as Community Shield holders and Ferguson was quick to point the finger at Ballack and referee Chris Foy.
"If the referee sees it properly it is a red card. He has clearly elbowed him. The referee had a clear view of it, he was in line, he should have seen it," Ferguson said.
"The referee made a rod for his own back. He stopped play twice, once when Nani was tackled, then on the second occasion Ballack went down, which we've seen before! The ref said it was a serious incident when Ballack went down but he was up straight away.
"So I don't understand why he didn't do it with Evra. When you see the replay you see Ballack has elbowed him. But it's hard to blame the Chelsea players for carrying on. It's a professional game."
Carlo Ancelotti, Chelsea's new manager, agreed that his players had done nothing wrong by opting to carry on playing rather than kicking the ball out.
"A referee can stop the play and also the players can put out the ball," Ancelotti said. "They didn't see Evra on the pitch so they continued. If they had seen him a Chelsea player would have put the ball out."
Chelsea midfielder Lampard added: "Anyone should look at the rules. It's up to the referee to stop it but Man United just stopped when their man was down.
"It's in the rules, when the referee stops it he stops it. We carried on and I'm sure United would have down the same in that position."
Ferguson's mood wasn't improved by the news that Portgual winger Nani, who had scored in the first half, had dislocated his shoulder after falling under a tackle from John Terry.
