Wayne Rooney apologised to his Manchester United team-mates for his reckless lunge on Stewart Downing and has no plans to appeal the red card which he admits he fully deserved.
Louis van Gaal’s second win as Manchester United manager against West Ham was overshadowed by Rooney’s dismissal, which came in the second-half of an ill-disciplined match at Old Trafford.
In an incident which was not seen by the officials at the time, Luke Shaw was allegedly headbuted off the ball by Diafra Sakho, who may now face retrospective punishment, and referee Lee Mason struggled to keep a lid on tensions at times in the second half.
The biggest decision the referee made came in the 59th minute when he sent off Rooney for cutting down West Ham midfielder Down¬ing as he sprinted down field.
West Ham manager Sam Allardyce branded the foul “crazy and irresponsible” while Rooney had no complaints about his dis-missal.
Rooney was glad United held on for a 2-1 win and after the final whistle the captain apologised to his players in the dressing room.
“Yeah, of course I did (apologise),” the United striker said.
Rooney now looks set to miss United’s games against Everton, Chelsea and West Brom through suspension. When asked whether he would appeal against his ban, the England skipper said: “No. I understand it (the punishment).
“I knew at the time that I misjudged it. It is a red card and I don’t think it will benefit anyone to appeal against the decision. “It was probably the right decision.
I saw the West Ham player making a counter-attack and I tried to break-up the play, but I just misjudged it.
“I think everyone knew (I was in the wrong), so I am just grateful that the lads were able to hold on.
” Rooney had a reputation as something of a hot head in his early years, but this was the first time he had been sent off for United in five-and-a-half years. The 28-year-old, whose dismissal came the day before the 10th anniversary of his United debut, is aware questions about his temperament will be raised again following the sixth red card of his career.
“I expect people to say that, but at the end of the day, I was trying to break up the play,” he said. “It was a dangerous situation in that they were trying to break on us and I have just misjudged it, simple as that, but I have no complaints.”
When asked whether he felt the need to apologise to Downing, Rooney said: “No. I haven’t absolutely volleyed the lad.
“I have tried to trip him up and, to be fair to him, he got further away from me and that is why my leg is straighter than it should have been. “As he pushed the ball away, my leg has straightened out and that is obviously why the referee has deemed it as a red card.”
Rooney started off the match in fine fashion, clipping the ball past Adrian from a Rafael cross to put United ahead. Robin van Persie then doubled United’s lead before Sakho headed in a goal for West Ham to put the home fans on edge.
Rooney will play for England in next month’s Euro 2016 qualifiers against San Marino and Estonia, but he will not turn out for United until November, when they play bitter rivals Manchester City.
Midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain loves playing in such an attacking Arsenal team – but accepts they will always have to work at keeping it tight at the back.
Arsenal recovered from going behind in the north London derby to a breakaway Tottenham goal for Nacer Chadli as Oxlade-Chamberlain’s close-range strike secured a 1-1 draw.
Arsene Wenger’s side, however, had enjoyed plenty of posses¬sion and should have been ahead before a lapse in concentration from defensive midfielder Matheiu Flamini allowed Christian Eriksen to snatch the ball and set-up a swift counter.
Oxlade-Chamberlain accepts it is a part of Arsenal’s game which can hurt them, but is worth it for what the Gunners offer going forwards.
“That is the risk you take when you play the way we play football,” said England international Oxlade-Chamberlain. “We try to take control of games, we like to set the tempo.
“We send a lot of bodies forward in a positive and attacking fashion and you do leave yourself at times a little bit vulnerable to the counter-attack.
“It is just important that when we do, we have got people in the team that are willing to take the responsibility of holding back and being there to stop counter-attacks.
“But, yeah, I do love playing in this team and the style of play that we do, as I think all the players could say. We do, though, need to obviously be careful and make sure we are defending at the same time as when we are attacking.”
