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Martinez adamant United striker should have been sent off

Sir Alex Ferguson expects a storm to be made over the incident which Roberto Martinez felt should have seen Wayne Rooney sent off against Wigan Athletic.

Manchester United striker Rooney appeared to catch Latics midfielder James McCarthy with his elbow during the early stages of his team’s 4-0 win at the DW Stadium.

Referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a free-kick to Wigan, but chose not to take any action against England international Rooney.

After reviewing the incident, United boss Ferguson felt Clattenburg made the correct decision, although he still anticipates a media furore.

Unbelievable

“I have had a chance to see it,” said Ferguson. “There is nothing in it.

“But, what will happen, the question has been asked and because it is Wayne Rooney the press will raise a campaign to get him hung by Tuesday or electrocuted or something like that.

“It is unbelievable. Watch the press. It will be interesting to see it.”

However, Ferguson’s Wigan counterpart Martinez is adamant that Rooney should have been shown a red card for the challenge.

“I saw the incident clearly and the referee did as well because he gave the free-kick,” said Martinez.

“Once you give a free-kick it is quite clear that it is a red card. When you look at the replay, it is quite clear he catches James McCarthy in the face with his elbow.

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

“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.

“It was not because he was Wayne Rooney. It was an incident in the game. That is it.

“I saw the referee at half-time. He said he felt it was not a red card and that Rooney had just clipped McCarthy.”

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Christian Schulz’s late goal gave Hannover a hard-earned win at St Pauli and their club record 14th victory of the Bundesliga season to remain in the running for a Champions League place.

Schulz scored the only goal of the game in the 89th minute for Mirko Slomka’s team.

Hannover have collected three wins and a draw in their last four games to move to 44 points, in third place ahead of Bayern Munich’s late kick-off

After three straight wins, St Pauli suffered their second consecutive defeat to remain on 28 points.

St Pauli had the first chance of the game after 12 minutes but Hannover goalkeeper Ron-Robert Zieler was able to grab Jan-Philipp Kalla’s shot.

Hannover nearly grabbed the lead just three minutes later with Lars Stindl turning in from the right side and striking from 22 yards which bounced off the right post.

The game did not have many highlights but St Pauli keeper Thomas Kessler stopped Jan Schlaudraff’s attempt just after the hour mark and then saved Mohammed Abdellaoue’s rebound shot.

St Pauli’s Fabian Boll headed wide left in the 72nd minute and Matthias Lehmann blasted over the bar from the edge of the area 11 minutes later.

Hannover finally got on the scoreboard in the 89th minute from a set-piece with Sergio Pinto’s corner from the left side being headed home just inside the near left post by Schulz.

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Schalke’s fans were unable to hide their frustration after another abject performance from their side ended in a draw at home to Nurnberg.

Jens Hegeler put the visitors in front against the run of play in the 37th minute and both sides left the field to a chorus of disapproval from the home fans.

Raul earned Schalke a point with his goal in the 52nd minute, but Schalke’s wastefulness prevented them from finding a winner and the fans made their feelings known towards coach Felix Magath at the final whistle.

His future could now hinge on how the Royal Blues fare against Bayern Munich in the semi-final of the DFB-Pokal on Wednesday.

Raul had the first chance of the game in the seventh minute, but Raphael Schafer was alert to deny the Spaniard.

Eight minutes later, Raul had another chance with a header just over the crossbar as the home team made a strong start to the game.

Klaas Jan Huntelaar was the next Royal Blue to get a sight of goal after half an hour, but he also failed to hit the target from close range.

Raul was again denied by Schafer in the 35th minute and the home side were punished for their profligacy two minutes later when Nurnberg went ahead with their first real chance of the game.

Mehmet Ekici’s shot was only parried by Manuel Neuer to the feet of Hegeler, who had the simple task of tapping the ball in.

Nurnberg grew in confidence and ended the half in a crescendo, frustrating the home fans, who jeered their team off at the interval.

Schalke needed just seven minutes of the second half to draw level.

Raul was in the right place at the right time to take advantage of a defensive error by Markus Mendler and shoot into the far corner of Schafer’s goal.

The home team were now regaining the upper hand and Huntelaar and Raul both came close again, but Schafer was in fine fettle to deny them repeatedly.

Just like in the first half, Schalke risked conceding while they were on top of the game when Robert Mak’s shot was tipped over the crossbar by Neuer.

And Nurnberg probably should have stolen all three points in the 82nd minute when Mendler’s header hit the underside of the crossbar before he headed the rebound wide of the goal.

Yet it was another miss from Huntelaar which denied Schalke all three points in the last minute as he was outfoxed by Schafer in a one-on-one situation.

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Lukas Podolski’s late goal secured Cologne an entertaining victory over Freiburg for their fifth home win in a row.

Podolski scored in the 88th minute for his sixth goal of the second half of the season.

Cologne are undefeated in their last four games and have just one loss in the last seven for 29 points and 11th place – five points from the relegation zone.

Freiburg suffered just their second loss in 10 games to remain on 37 points for seventh place.

Cologne had the first scoring chance of the game after 14 minutes with Milivoje Novakovic striking over from eight yards.

The hosts remained dominant as Christian Clemens volleyed just wide left from 18 yards four minutes later.

Novakovic again was unable to find the back of the net with Freiburg keeper Oliver Baumann stopping him from a tight angle in the 21st minute.

The Slovenian international striker was unlucky yet again six minutes later as Baumann fended away Mato Jajalo’s shot to Novakovic, who could only find the left post from five yards.

Cologne remained the better side in the second half with Baumann stopping Podolski in the 50th minute and the German international forward blasted just wide left a minute later.

The ball was in the goal for Freiburg with 15 minutes left but Papiss Demba Cisse was ruled to have fouled Cologne keeper Michael Rensing.

Novakovic’s bad day continued four minutes later as he headed wide from eight yards.

But Novakovic set up the game-winning goal in the 88th minute, passing down the left wing where Podolski ran onto the ball and looped it just over Baumann.

Freiburg had one final chance to score but Cisse headed wide from six yards out a minute into injury time.

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Kaiserslautern held on for a draw at home to Hamburg to move out of the Bundesliga relegation zone.

Adam Hlousek gave the hosts the lead in the 18th minute but Marcell Jansen equalised nine minutes after the break.

Kaiserslautern had collected just two points since the winter break going into the game, but this draw lifted them up to 15th place.

Hamburg, who had won five of their previous seven games, moved up to sixth.

The first chance of the game gave Kaiserslautern the lead after 18 minutes as Jan Movarek played the ball into the area where Hlousek fired a first-time shot in off the post.

The hosts had a chance to double their lead four minutes later but Srdjan Lakic headed wide from seven yards out.

Hamburg missed an opportunity to equalise after 24 minutes when Piotr Trochowski’s free-kick found Paolo Guerrero, whose header from four yards was stopped superbly by goalkeeper Tobias Sippel.

Sippel was beaten early in the second half, though, as Ze Roberto played a pass into space on the edge of the area for Jensen to run on to and strike a shot under the keeper.

Lautern pressed again as they looked for a second goal and Movarek nearly found one, but he could not beat Hamburg keeper Frank Rost.

Instead, Sippel was forced to make two more saves, from Ruud van Nistelrooy in the 82nd minute and Mladen Petric in the 85th minute, to ensure a share of the spoils.

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