Ronaldo Slams Webb for Red Card

Cristiano Ronaldo last night strongly criticized the referee Howard Webb for sending him off in Sunday's Manchester derby and claimed the man considered by many to be the Premier League's best referee had failed to listen to his explanation for the handball which led to the dismissal.

Ronaldo, in a statement issued on his agent Jorge Mendes's website, claimed: "[Wayne] Rooney knocked in a corner, I jumped and that was when I heard a shout from [Micah] Richards [City's defender] and simultaneously the sound of a whistle.

"At that moment I was convinced that the referee had whistled for a foul. I stopped trying to head the ball and score a goal, and I grabbed the ball so Richards could get help . . . after Richards yelled I thought that he was hurt and needed assistance. I tried to explain what had happened but he didn't want to listen. I hadn't done anything wrong. I heard the whistle so I took the initiative to stop the match."

All of which must have come as a surprise to the Manchester City team who, quite apart from hearing no whistle, had seen Ronaldo pick up a first booking for hacking down their team-mate Shaun Wright-Phillips and then found himself lucky to escape a second yellow seconds later, when the Portuguese sarcastically applauded Webb's award. Manchester United won the game 1-0.

Ronaldo, who is in Paris where he was expected to be named European Player of the Year and pick up the award at a reception this evening, then blamed the City crowd. "I understood the referee wanted to talk to me but then, maybe influenced by the fans, he put his hand in his pocket and sent me off."

All of which sees him suspended for one match, tomorrow's low-priority Carling Cup quarter final at home to Blackburn in which he was unlikely to play anyway.

"I have come to understand that every movement I make, on or off the pitch, is analyzed to death," Ronaldo added. "If I don't celebrate goals it is because I am sad, if I talk to the public it is because I have lost my humility. People are always waiting for me to do something and they pick on absolutely normal and unimportant things to criticize. They analyze things that have nothing unusual about them through a magnifying glass."