Reina accuses Robben of manipulating referee

Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Manuel Reina said he was furious about being sent off during his side's away match against Chelsea last Sunday and accused Arjen Robben of "acting" to manipulate the referee.

كتب : Reem Abulleil

الثلاثاء، 07 فبراير 2006 - 19:21
روبن بقميص تشيلسي
Liverpool goalkeeper Jose Manuel Reina said he was furious about being sent off during his side's away match against Chelsea last Sunday and accused Arjen Robben of "acting" to manipulate the referee.

Reina received a red card when the Chelsea winger appeared to fall to the ground in pain after a confrontation between the two players.

"I am furious with him for what happened. Robben's a big actor and he did well enough to win an Oscar," Reina told the club's official website.

"He is an excellent player but he was deceitful with the way he behaved. I would never hit out at another player,” said the 23-year-old Spaniard.

The incident occurred when the Spanish goalkeeper was called by the referee after tackling Chelsea's Eidur Gudjohnsen.

Reina was faced by Robben on his way and raised his hand to the Dutchman’s face, which caused Robben to dramatically fall to the ground, faking an injury.

"He exaggerated what happened and therefore forced the referee to send me off,” explained an angry Reina.

"If we had been at Anfield, I would never have got a red card. There was also a lot of pressure from the crowd. My teammates feel the same and are very angry."

Liverpool boss, Rafael Benitez also pointed out Robben’s exaggerated behavior, which forced his team to finish the match with only 10 players.

"If that was a red card it was crazy,” Benitez was quoted as saying by BBC Sport.

"I know Reina made a mistake by touching Robben's face but when the player went down it looked as though he would spend a week in the hospital.”

"It was crazy that we had to play with 10 men because of that."

Premiership leaders, Chelsea won the match 2-0 and are now 15 points clear of second-placed Manchester United.