blumoonrises said:Exactly.. dangerous play, first offence = yellow card... those are the rules.
For it to be red it would have to have been violent conduct, ie no attempt to play the ball, the fact is he got the ball and his momentum along with that of the Kiev player, is what caused the contact.
mancitymark said:He is a fucking prick who brings nothing but embarrassment on the team and club. Anyone who thinks differently is a fucking prick.
Fuck him off, never want to see that prick in a City shirt again.
Meddler said:That's might be the problem there mate daydreaming where his dick is going to be - not too much to ask that for 2 hours he concentrates on what he is being paid 5 noughts to do
baldybouncer said:I've just watched the incident over and over again in slow motion and the use of inflamatory phrases like "studs in the chest" and "raking his studs down the players leg" is totally incorrect (heard that on the radio coming home from the match). I think Balotelli actually pulls his foot away from Popov's chest before he makes contact and then catches Popov's upper thigh when he's bringing his leg back down. There is no continous raking action down the leg. From where the linesman is stood he can only see Balotelli's raised foot. Don't know how much the ref saw though. One point in Balaotelli's defence is that the Kiev players weren't all up in arms and protesting to the ref. Probably looked worse in real time hence the red card. Be interested in any other Bluemooners points of view (other than kill Balotell).