Twitter Reacts to Fernandinho, Yaya Toure's Red Cards vs. CSKA Moscow
Manchester City's attempt to keep their Champions League hopes alive against CSKA Moscow became all the more difficult on Wednesday when Brazilian midfielder Fernandino was shown a red card just 25 minutes after coming on as a substitute.
Things went from bad to worse just minutes later, as Yaya Toure joined the Brazil international for an early shower.
Fox Soccer confirmed the first red card, for Fernandinho:
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The midfielder tried to break up an attack on the edge of the box by interrupting his movement, and he was run into hard by one of the CSKA players. The official judged he had obstructed the attack, leading to his second yellow card of the half.
Naturally, the club's Twitter feed disagreed with the decision:
Down 2-1 in a must-win match, the reaction on Twitter appeared to be one of compassion with the Citizens, whose chances of completing a comeback were shrinking by the minute.
The Independent's Ian Herbert called it a "nightmare":
So did Goal's Ives Galarcep:
Manchester Evening News' Stuart Brennan didn't understand what the official saw that led to the dismissal:
BBC Sport's Phil McNulty also didn't like City's chances after the decision:
The Citizens kept looking for the equaliser and grew more frustrated by the minute, and with eight minutes left on the clock, Toure made the terrible decision of shoving one of his opponents to the ground.
For all of the controversy that surrounded the first red card, this one was as clear-cut as it gets. As shared by ESPN FC's Richard Jolly, it only added to City's reputation:
Bleacher Report's Michael Cummings didn't understand Toure's decision:
AFP's Tom Williams made no excuses:
Down to nine men, City were unable to complete the comeback, and they now find themselves last in Group E, down two points from CSKA and AS Roma.
With matches against the Giallorossi in Rome and group-leaders Bayern Munich at home still on the schedule, the Citizens will need two near-perfect performances to have any chance of advancing to the knockout stages.
