Needless to say Alex Ferguson and Mark Hughes did not have the same interpretation of Cristiano Ronaldo‘s red card in the Manchester derby.
Manchester City 0-1 Manchester United
Alex Ferguson: “He (Cristiano Ronaldo) was trying to protect himself from the ball hitting him in the face. He thought he had heard a whistle, he got a little push as well and it is not as if he punched the ball. If that had been outside the box it would have been a free-kick and nothing else. But the crowd played a part and he got sent off. Sometimes you have to overcome these things and we overcame a lot.”
Mark Hughes: “I don’t think the referee had any choice. I don’t know what reason he will give for doing it but if he says the ball was going to hit him in the face why didn’t he head it? It is a soft sending-off but it was a second bookable offence and he had to go…It was a difficult game for Robinho but we wanted him on because he has been our talisman.”
Luiz Felipe Scolari: “Have you ever heard me speak about referees any time in the games I have been here? Never! In 15 games in the Premier League, four in the Champions League, the Carling Cup, I have not said anything, but today is different. I do not want the referee to make something different – I want him to look at the television, and see that the referee and the linesman see they are wrong, and for them to say ‘sorry’.”
Arsene Wenger: “It gives us the belief we can come back, but what kind of impact it will have on Chelsea, I do not know. It was a massive win for us. To lose would have put us 13 points away and that would have been too much. It was a test of character and we came here with perhaps not the needed level of confidence – but we have shown that we have character.”
Tottenham 0-1 Everton
David Moyes: “I’m really fortunate to be given 300 games as a manager. A lot of managers don’t get given time these days. I hope I get another 300 and hope the good times are still to come. I’m not going to overtake Sir Alex Ferguson if he goes on but this is a big honour.[Yakubu’s injury is] a massive blow for us. His record in the Premier League is around 18 goals a season and to replace that is very difficult. I have Victor Anichebe and one or two other kids.”
Harry Redknapp: “They are a difficult team to play against. We gave a terrible goal away – we switched off at the free-kick and they are very difficult to beat when they have their noses in front. We turned our back on the ball, they play a short one and it’s in the back of the net with half of us not looking at the ball. It cost us the game. We’ve had a fantastic run, without that we would be in big trouble. We’ve now got West Ham and then Manchester United in the league next and they are two very tough games.”
Portsmouth 3-2 Blackburn Rovers
Tony Adams: We’ve still got some defensive things to work on. We’re going through a little phase of surrendering things. This time we knocked off from a throw-in. But at least we had the spirit to come back and win it – and on this occasion, a bit more time. I’m delighted with them again. It’s a relief to get the win. We were not very good in the first half. You can hear from my voice that I had to get into the guys a bit at half-time.”
Paul Ince: It was a poor decision from the referee [to disallow our third goal]. He gave the foul on James but you see on the replay that he hasn;t touched him and it should have been 3-2. They are the things that happen when you are down there. That is the sort of stuff we have to contend with at this moment in time, but we’ll keep marching.”
