More than a week has passed since the
Manchester derby and Pablo Zabaleta still looks mystified at how
Marouane Fellaini received just a yellow card for elbowing him in the
face.
The
FA also decided that Fellaini had no case to answer over allegations he
spat at the Manchester City defender while he lay on the floor.
‘He
said that I ran into his elbow but that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever
heard in my life,’ says Zabaleta, with a smile that at least proves he
still has a full set of teeth.
I know I’m not the tallest player in
the league but he left the ball and tried to elbow me. He should have
been sent off for that, 100 per cent.
‘I’m
not going to say anything about the spitting because I didn’t see it
when I was on the pitch. I saw some images after the game but I will
respect the FA’s decision.’
Luckily for Zabaleta, he is used to
taking the hard knocks. He got a black eye from Chelsea’s Florent
Malouda on his Premier League debut in 2008 and suffered a badly broken
nose against Portsmouth the following season.
Before
moving to Manchester, Zabaleta spent three years in Barcelona with
Espanyol, where fellow Argentine Mauricio Pochettino was a veteran
defender. Now Pochettino is manager of Southampton, City’s opponents
this lunchtime.
When
they first met, Pochettino offered the new boy some advice over a cup
of tea… and then he kicked him. ‘My first season was his last and he was
a very important person for me,’ recalls Zabaleta.
