‘Clever and dangerous!’ – Wayne Rooney seethes at Plymouth’s red card during 5-0 thrashing by Cardiff as pressure ramps back up on Pilgrims manager
Wayne Rooney has fumed at Cardiff City’s Perry Ng after his Plymouth Argyle side were thumped 5-0 by the Welsh club on Saturday.
WHAT HAPPENED?
Plymouth were thumped by Cardiff on Saturday and were reduced to 10 men at 2-0 after Ibrahim Cissoko shoved Ng to the ground. Ng initially kicked the ball at Cissoko, who reacted, and the Cardiff star was shown a yellow card, while Cissoko was given his marching orders.
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Rooney watched on from the stands after being suspended due to his red card against Blackburn Rovers before the international break. The result was perhaps a shock, as Cardiff had been languishing at the bottom of the Championship table prior to kick-off. Plymouth have only won two of their last five league games.
WHAT ROONEY SAID
Rooney told reporters: “He [Cissoko] has reacted, the player’s [Perry Ng] been clever and very dangerous.
“He kicked the ball at him on purpose, that could have been a different colour to what he got, Ibs [Cissoko] has reacted in the wrong way.
“The emotions of the game sometimes, you get those reactions and unfortunately that’s happened to us today.”
He added: “We have to give Cardiff a lot of credit. They deserved to win the game, they were the better team.”
WHAT NEXT?
Plymouth, who are now 19th in the Championship, play 20th-placed Millwall on Wednesday. They will hope to bounce back quickly.
Manchester United team news
United manager Erik ten Hag has to make do without the injured lot of Leny Yoro, Tyrell Malacia, Harry Maguire and Noussair Mazraoui.
However, the woes do not end there as Manuel Ugarte, Luke Shaw, Mason Mount, Kobbie Mainoo, Alejandro Garnacho and Amad Diallo will all need once-overs on account of their respective concerns.
Circumstances may push Ten Hag into using Jonny Evans at left-back, with Diogo Dalot switching to the right side, while Matthijs de Ligt and Lisandro Martinez marshal the backline.
Joshua Zirkzee may replace Rasmus Hojlund upfront, while Christian Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes can feature in midfield.
Manchester United possible XI: Onana; Dalot, De Ligt, Martinez, Evans; Eriksen, Casemiro; Garnacho, Fernandes, Rashford; Zirkzee.
