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FA reject City appeal on Kompany red card

Comment: 0 January 11th, 2012 by: admin

Though Manchester City filed an appeal against Vincent Kompany’s red card, the skipper will still serve a four-match ban after the plea was rejected.

The league leaders contested the incident that happened in their third round FA Cup clash against Manchester United on January 8. In the 2-3 defeat at Etihad Stadium, City lost their captain in the 12^th minute after referee Chris Foy showed Kompany the red card due to a tackle he made. The defender went for a two-footed challenge but completely avoided any contact with United’s Nani.

“The suspension consists of a statutory three-match suspension for serious foul play plus one additional game given this is Kompany’s second dismissal of the season,” said an FA statement made Tuesday.

As a result, Kompany will miss both legs of the Carling Cup semi-final battle against Liverpool. In between those matches, he will also be unavailable on City’s DW Stadium clash with Wigan Athletic, as well as a Premier League match against Tottenham Hotspur at Etihad Stadium.

With the decision, the outfit took a serious hit as they found themselves lacking crucial players. Brothers Kolo and Yaya Toure are already out of the line-up in the coming weeks because of duties with the Ivory Coast at the African Cup of Nations.

Injuries have also thinned out the squad’s line-up as David Silva is doubtful for their home tie against Liverpool on Wednesday; same goes for Mario Balotelli and Edin Dzeko.

Gareth Barry, though, is set to return since serving his suspension after being sent off in City’s 3-0 league win against Liverpool.

In the loss against United, City manager Roberto Mancini resorted to filling the bench with untested players like Abdul Razak and Denis Suarez, between whom are a mere six first-team appearances.

With the Kompany blow, the Italian manager is now considering 17-year-old Karim Rekik to be added in the line-up.

Mancini said about the Dutch skipper: “If we don’t have a central defender we will play with Rekik.”

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