Why Man City’s Phil Foden Was Flashed Red Card in Feisty Manchester Derby

The Red Devils were forced to 10 men before the half-hour mark in Sunday’s affair.

Phil Foden was flashed red on Sunday. | Catherine Ivill/AMA/Getty Images

It took no time at all for the season’s first Manchester derby to turn bitter and feisty.

Manchester City’s Phil Foden was flashed a red card for violent conduct in the 23rd minute after a tussle with Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, kicking the Portuguese star midfielder to the ground near the sideline after a hard tackle.

“Red card Phil Foden—kick out into the body of Bruno,” referee Michael Oliver said. The call was then checked and confirmed by VAR, which said: “That looks like a clear red card to me. Looks to be a secondary movement. Confirming the red card for Manchester City No. 47.”

Per the FA’s rules of governance, violent conduct is defined as “when a player uses or attempts to use excessive force or brutality against an opponent when not challenging for the ball, or against a teammate, team official, match official, spectator or any other person, regardless of whether contact is made.”

It was still considered a contentious call, given Fernandes was shown kicking the backside of a fallen Foden prior to the latter’s two-footed kick to Fernandes’s stomach. Fernandes walked away from the play without a card, though, resulting in City’s new manager Enzo Maresca throwing his hands up in anger. It proved a rocky start to the Italian boss’s maiden Manchester derby at the helm, given his side was left down a man even prior to the half-hour mark.

It signified the first red card in a Manchester derby in 20 years. City’s Bernardo Corradi was last shown a red for diving back in 2006, in a clash also at Old Trafford. It marked just the second red card of Foden’s career, the first of which came back in 2019 in Champions League play against Atalanta.

---

Marc Guéhi Responds to Foden’s Red Card

Marc Guéhi remained level-headed. | Marc Atkins/Getty Images

City remained level-headed in the wake of Foden’s shock exit, heading into the interval scoreless for both sides and level in possession.

“Moving on as well as possible, focusing on the next action,” City’s center back Marc Guéhi said at halftime, regarding the key to City staying in the match,.

Guéhi remarked that he had not witnessed the tussle that transpired between Foden and Fernandes.

---