‘I won’t take Wayne Rooney’s accusation – what he said isn’t cool’: Opponent admits he DID celebrate Man City taking title off United – but attacks legend’s conspiracy theory

Former Premier League^[1] star Djibril Cisse has rubbished a conspiracy theory cited by Wayne Rooney^[2] that suggested his Queen’s Park Rangers^[3] side intentionally handed Manchester City their first Premier League title in 2012. 

Cisse was on the pitch in QPR^[4] colours on that fateful May day over a decade ago when Roberto Mancini’s men won 3-2 at the death thanks to a now-iconic strike from Sergio Aguero^[5]. 

The goal – and Martin Tyler’s memorable commentary of it – wrote the Manchester side into the history books as they lifted the first of what would be eight top-flight titles in the 21st century. 

But victory at the Etihad came at their crosstown rivals Manchester United^[6]‘s direct expense, with Sir Alex Ferguson^[7]‘s side poised to claim the title had Man City^[8] lost or drawn with the London club. 

In recent years, Rooney had voiced skepticism surrounding the late winner, arguing that it was ‘strange’^[9] that QPR appeared to have kicked the ball back to a Man City player on the heels of their opponents’ late equaliser. 

Rooney also accused Cisse of ‘celebrating after the game with the City players’ after the final whistle. 

Wayne Rooney has long questioned the ‘strange’ Man City victory against QPR that won them the Premier League title – at United’s expense 

But Djibril Cisse has hit back at the claims and called out for ex-England international for his disrespectful accusation

Now, the former Liverpool star has hit out at Rooney’s accusations, dubbing the claims disrespectful, and seeking to put the record straight.  

‘I’m not going to take this accusation any longer,’ Cisse told FourFourTwo^[10]. ‘I was celebrating with Samir Nasri. 

‘I didn’t celebrate with Mario Balotelli, Sergio Aguero or anybody else. I celebrated with my brother, Samir, who had been a friend of mine for 15 years.

‘I was happy for my friend and also that we managed to stay up. I don’t care about Man City. My friend finally won the Premier League after many years in England and I was happy for him and also for me. That’s all.’ 

Cisse added that Rooney was unfair for putting the blame of Man United missing out on the Premier League title, when the fact was that they have ‘dropped points throughout the season.’

‘What Rooney said isn’t cool,’ Cisse continued. ‘He took out his frustrations on me. It’s not my fault. 

‘If we had wanted Man City to win the league, would it not have been a little risky to have waited until the very last minute to let them score? 

‘We could have let them win 4–0 or 5–0 and gone home. But we played a strong team, the manager wanted to win that game. It wasn’t our reserve team.’

Cisse scored as the visitors equalised at the Etihad over a decade ago 

But Sergio Aguero’s wondergoal catapulted Man City into the history books and sparked over 10 years of success

After the final whistle Cisse celebrated with his friend Samir Nasri on the pitch, sparking Rooney’s concern

QPR had been battling relegation and only results elsewhere around the grounds on the final day of the season stopped the club from dropping down into the Championship. 

For all of Cisse’s arguments however, Rooney could be set to continue sharing his theory. 

The former England international discussed the topic as recently as this April – but was lightly teased by Jamie Carragher after resharing his stance^[11]. 

Featuring on The Overlap Fan Debate – courtesy of Sky Bet, Rooney had been asked about the result by a gloating fan, and quickly launched into his claim.

‘Obviously that was a tough one that,’ Rooney said. ‘But again didn’t Paddy Kenny turn the ball in, two goals, QPR knew they were safe and City get it to 2-2, then they just boot the ball back to them.

‘They had (Djibril) Cisse on the pitch, Joey Barton got sent off for acting stupid. Who else was it, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Nedum Onuoha diving about.’

Carragher joked in response: ‘So, you’ve got over it?’, prompting Rooney to reply ‘That should have been looked into.’

The former Liverpool star laughed, teasing: ‘It’s not just 115 now it’s 116. That’s the headline, “Wayne Rooney wants Manchester City looked into for the QPR game”.’