Wayne Rooney escapes action for McCarthy elbow

Man United star Wayne Rooney has escaped disciplinary action for his elbow on Wigan midfielder James McCarthy.

The incident took place at 0-0 during Saturday’s 4-0 victory – with Rooney later scoring and setting up a goal for Javier Hernandez.

Referee Mark Clattenburg saw the controversial incident and called it up as a foul but took no further action against Rooney at the time – to the disbelief of Wigan boss Roberto Martinez.

Speaking after the match, Martinez said: “It is a big call in the game. It is unfortunate because the referee saw it but he didn’t feel it was a red card.

“If one of my players had done that, I would think he was very lucky to stay on the pitch.”

Sir Alex Ferguson played down the elbow, telling reporters “there was nothing in it”.

Clattenburg told the FA today that he felt he had taken appropriate action during the match. The rules are that retrospective action can only be taken if the official admits missing the incident during the match.

The decision to take no further action means Rooney will be available to face Chelsea on Tuesday night and Liverpool on Sunday afternoon in two of the league leaders’ biggest matches of the season.

Clattenburg’s decision not to push for further action has been met with disappointment on Twitter with journalists praising McCarthy for being the only person to come out of the affair with any dignity.

An excitable Robbie Savage tweeted: “Rooney getting away with that is shocking !!! Great example to kids from the f.a !! It’s ok to elbow someone because the ref seen it !!!”

What do you think? Was the FA right? Are they favouring ‘big teams?’ Have your say below