adminLouis van Gaal conceded that Wayne Rooney had been “too unfriendly” after he was sent off for a wild kick at Stewart Downing in a 2-1 victory for Manchester United that ended with Sam Allardyce furiously complaining about a late West Ham effort from Kevin Nolan that was disallowed for offside.
Rooney scored the opening goal but was shown a straight red card in front of Roy Hodgson, the England manager, after taking a hack at Downing just before the hour. Allardyce described it as a “cynical” and “really poor” challenge but Van Gaal refused to answer questions about whether it showed Rooney had defects as the club captain. “It’s neither a good analysis or a good question,” he said.
Rooney had been chasing Downing inside his own half and Van Gaal said it was the player’s attempt to stop West Ham breaking on the counterattack. “I can see why he made the tackle but I think you have to be far friendlier,” he said. “He did it too unfriendly and that is maybe his biggest mistake.
“In professional football, you make professional fouls. I’ve seen it happen five or six times today and, professionally, I can understand that.
“But I also saw fouls from West Ham that weren’t punished the same way, so that is a little strange. I have seen other professional fouls without yellow or red cards.” – The Guardian
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