Kompany. I’ve not seen it on TV and missed it on the big screen at the game (I think they showed it at half time). What was he sent off for? It looked like a standard tackle from our angle.
He went in feet first. Both feet were off the ground but not by the time he tackled Nani (although all studs were still showing). Nani rode the tackle and didn’t complain. The fact that both feet were off the ground was pointed out to the ref by Rooney (although he may well have been able to work this out for himself). Put simply he gave the ref the opportunity to send him off and paid the price for it. ‘Expert’ opinion on TV and radio seems to be that in the current climate by the letter of the law it should have been red but that it was ‘harsh’ to send him off. That seems to me to be the ex-players complaining about the current rules and interpretation of them. I have some sympathy with that.
I don’t think there was any malice in Kompany’s challenge – he was sent off for what he could have done to Nani’s leg if he’d connected with it. In fact I don’t think there was a great deal of malice in any of the challenges, not even Micah’s ‘Welcome Back’ to Scholesy.
For a derby played at pace and with commitment, I think the ref got most thing’s right and distributed his mistakes evenly. We should, for example, have had at least one more definite penalty.