Manchester United legend Gary Neville always knew that he’d be in for a rough ride at Vincent Kompany’s testimonial on Wednesday night, but he can’t have imagined it would have been this tough so early on.
However, he’s blaming Jamie Carragher.
Neville and Carragher were among a galaxy of stars who came out for City icon Kompany’s farewell game, after the Belgian left the club in the summer to take up a player-manager role back in his homeland with Anderlecht.
The match at the Etihad Stadium was held in order to raise funds for the Tackle4MCR charity, which was set up by Kompany and Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham in order to tackle homelessness in the city.
The game between a City legends side and a Premier League all-star XI attracted a huge crowd at the Etihad Stadium, and home fans didn’t have long to wait before they could cheer a goal.
(Image: Sky Sports Main Event)
Less than a minute was on the clock when a City attack down the left saw Premier League XI full-back Neville push up and get drawn to the ball, as did centre-back and Neville’s punditry pal Carragher.
That was the only invitation that former City winger Martin Petrov needed and, despite now being at the ripe old age of 40, the Bulgarian sprinted away from a static Neville before burying his shot past Edwin van der Sar.
(Image: Sky Sports Main Event)
(Image: Sky Sports Main Event)
Carragher wasn’t entirely innocent in the piece, but any Monday Night Football analysis of the goal would surely have pointed the finger at Neville for pushing up too high.
Sky Sports co-commentator Andy Hinchcliffe certainly blamed Neville, saying “What is Gary Neville doing?” as the former England full-back could only laugh at the disastrous start his team had made to the game.
(Image: Sky Sports Main Event)
Neville was replaced by current Anderlecht midfielder Kenny Saief after 35 minutes, citing a hamstring injury.
After coming off, he said: “I think I should have gone back with him (Petrov), but I also think Carragher should have deepened.
“Why a centre-half is in front of his right-back I’ll never know, but we’ll sort it out after I’m sure.”
