Wayne Rooney has rejected accuses that he dived to get Bastian Schweinsteiger sent off in the closing stages of the first leg of Manchester United’s Champions League quarter final against Bayern Munich.
The Munich midfield, who had scored his side’s equaliser eight minutes after Nemanja Vidic had put United ahead, earned himself a second yellow card when he lunged at Rooney only a couple of yards outside the Reds’ penalty box, prompting referee Carlos Velasco to send him off.
Schweinsteiger will now miss the second leg through suspension, like his team-mate Javi Martinez, and wasn’t happy about Rooney’s behaviour, but the United number 10 has defended his actions.
“I don’t really want to say what he said but I think it’s a foul,” said Rooney.
“It could have gone either way. He could have hurt me, he’s gone in with his studs and the referee has booked him, so it’s not my decision.
“It’s not nice to see anyone sent off and I didn’t try to get him sent off. The referee has made a decision. I’ve tried to stop myself getting hurt and the referee has had a decision to make.”
Rooney also admitted that while Bayern remain favourites to progress, United have got a chance to cause a huge upset next week.
“They are favourites for the tournament and it will be a tough ask but we needed to give ourselves a chance and we have done that,” he said.
“We have to go and score and [we are] disappointed to have conceded but we defended really well as a team and probably had the better chances and [are] probably disappointed we didn’t win.
“To go there with the chance to knock them out, with them being the holders of the competition, it’s a massive incentive for us and we are looking forward to it.”
Arjen Robben accused United of being a hand-ball team, as he lamented Moyes’ decision to leave 10 men behind the ball at all times to deny space to Bayern’s midfielders, but Rooney feels United had the better chances on Tuesday night and perhaps should have even won the game, had it not been for some errors in front of goal.
“If we were a bit more composed in front of goal maybe we could have won the game,” said Rooney
“Danny had a good chance. We have watched videos of their goalkeeper and he’s a bit like Peter Schmeichel, that he likes to come out of his goal, so it’s a bit disappointing that he tried to dink him and didn’t score but he will learn from that. I am sure if he gets a chance over there he won’t do that.
“We had the better chances and are disappointed we didn’t take at least one more but they are the European champions and we have seen them go to Arsenal and win 2-0 there [so] it’s a decent result. We have to focus and make sure we put everything into it. It’s a massive game for our season, so we have to make sure we are ready.”
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