Manchester United icon Wayne Rooney didn’t mince his words as he offered his frank verdict on Casemiro’s sending-off against Chelsea.
United beat Chelsea
United secured just their second victory of the Premier League campaign after sinking Chelsea 2-1 at Old Trafford on Saturday.
Robert Sanchez was given his marching orders after just four minutes for a reckless last-man foul on Bryan Mbeumo. United made them pay immediately as Bruno Fernandes broke the deadlock.
Casemiro made it 2-0 as he headed the ball home. It looked like United were set for a comfortable evening but Casemiro was sent off shortly before the break for a second bookable offence.
Trevoh Chalobah threatened to spoil the party late on but United held on for all three points. It was far from a straightforward finish, with Ruben Amorim criticising his players for making the game more difficult than necessary.
Amorim noted that Casemiro felt terrible about leaving the team shorthanded, though Rooney was far more critical of the Brazilian.
Rooney rips into Casemiro
The former England international said on Match of the Day [as quoted by Metro], “It’s silly, it’s naive for such an experienced player.”
“Manchester United have full control of the game and if you look at that first foul, there is no need for him to go into that tackle when Chelsea have ten men.”
“And yeah, the conditions are wet and slippy, but that is a silly booking. I felt then that Ruben might have taken him out of the game because you always fear that this could happen, and he goes and gets a second yellow card.”
Rooney continued, “It’s harsh because he wisn the ball but you can see his arms pulling him [Andrey Santos] down. You don’t expect that from such an experienced player and that could have cost Manchester United today.”
“I think that’s the only way he knows how to play. He’s passionate, he’s front-footed and he likes to put his foot in and make tackles but I think today he could have held his composure a little bit better than he did.”
United are back in action on Saturday when they take on Brentford at the Gtech Community Stadium.
Featured image Alex Livesey via Getty Images
Follow us on Bluesky: @peoplesperson.bsky.social
Derick Kinoti
Derick Kinoti is a football writer at The Peoples Person who has covered Manchester United and the game extensively for many years. He is a keen analyst with expertise in SEO and journalism standards. Derick is convinced Wayne Rooney is the true GOAT and won’t hear otherwise!
