Manuel Pellegrini fears he could be without in-form Samir Nasri for a prolonged period after the winger was stretchered off in Manchester City’s 2-0 win at Newcastle.
City moved back to the Premier League summit thanks to goals from Edin Dzeko and Alvaro Negredo but will now be without the Frenchman, who has four goals this season, for some time.
Pellegrini slammed the tackle from Newcastle’s Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa which forced him off, claiming referee Mike Jones made a mistake in not producing a red card.
“Samir Nasri has a problem in his medial ligaments,” he told the club’s official website.
“We’ll see tomorrow how serious it is, but I think it is a serious injury.
“I think it was a very unfair kick by the player of Newcastle. It was a direct red card, I do not understand why he was not sent off.”
His side will remain top at least until Arsenal face Aston Villa on Monday after a bad-tempered clash at St James’ Park
It was a busy afternoon for the officials, who dished out six yellow cards and disallowed Cheick Tiote’s volley for offside despite Yoan Gouffran not appearing to interfere with play.
The manager though insisted it was irrelevant and that, on this occasion, the referee did not make a mistake.
“Of course it should have been disallowed,” he said.
“It was an offside goal – it’s very simple. The referee made the right decision.”
“Samir Nasri has a problem in his medial ligaments,” he said. “We’ll see tomorrow how serious it is, but I think it is a serious injury.
“I think it was a very unfair kick by the player of Newcastle.
“It was a direct red card. I do not understand why he was not sent off.”
Image courtesy of MCFC via YouTube, with thanks.
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