Andros Townsend offers to ‘fight’ John Obi Mikel over Man City red card controversy
Andros Townsend disagreed with pundit John Obi Mikel over a controversial decision that saw Man City go down to 10 men in their opening game at the Club World Cup.
City are seeking to defend their Club World Cup title in the USA this summer, and their tournament got off to a near-perfect start on Wednesday (18 June) as they defeated Wydad AC 2-0 in Philadelphia.
Pep Guardiola named a strong side for their opener with Rayan Cherki and Tijjani Reijnders both handed their competitive Citizens debuts, and his team were rarely troubled throughout despite a decent effort from their Moroccan opponents.
Phil Foden got City’s defence of their trophy off to a brilliant start with the opening goal inside two minutes to score the quickest goal ever at the Club World Cup, and Jeremy Doku doubled their lead just before the interval as Foden delivered a great cross for the winger to finish emphatically.
Despite the routine nature in which they sealed the victory, their win was marred by a controversial red card for full-back Rico Lewis in the 88th minute, as referee Ramon Abatti gave him his marching orders for a late tackle on Samuel Obeng.
Rico Lewis sent off in Man City win over Wydad
Lewis initially won the ball when he went for the tackle, but then followed through with his feet high and seemingly caught Obeng in the face with his follow-through, which was enough to see him sent off with just two minutes to spare.
Channel 5 co-commentator Townsend was firmly against the referee’s decision to brandish the red card to the 20-year-old, and suggested it would be interesting to hear verdicts on the situation from the pundits in the studio, namely Mikel, Callum Wilson and Shay Given.
Commentator Conor McNamara soon relayed Mikel’s view that he believed it was indeed a sending off back to the former Spurs winger, to which he jokingly replied (18 June, 6.54pm) with an offer, saying: “Where are you John? Let’s fight.”
Man City will struggle at right-back in Lewis’ absence
Football Insider verdict
City will have wanted to get their Club World Cup campaign off to a perfect start, and everything was going according to plan until Lewis’ red card threw a spanner in the works for their next game of the tournament.
The 20-year-old will miss their clash against Al Ain on Monday (23 June), and his ban could even be extended based on the severity of the tackle, after he did go in relatively high on his opponent.
City’s right-back situation is an unusual one as it stands, with Lewis currently the only recognised senior player in that position at Guardiola’s disposal, as Kyle Walker is set to leave the club amid links to Everton, and is not even in their squad for this competition.
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 94 | 5 | 9 |
Versatile midfielder Matheus Nunes came on to play on the right of the back four in his absence at the end of their clash against Wydad, and he did play there at times last season, but never truly made the position his own, with a preference to play in the middle of the park.
Guardiola has a wealth of options at centre-back, and even at left-back after Rayan Ait-Nouri recently joined City from Wolves, but he is facing somewhat of a selection dilemma ahead of Monday’s second group game.