The most contentious moment from Leicester City's Champions League victory over Sevilla on Tuesday was undoubtedly Samir Nasri's head-butt of Jamie Vardy when the score stood at 2-0 to the Foxes. Nasri moved his head towards Vardy, Vardy staggered dramatically backwards and the Frenchman was sent to the line for a second yellow. There has been fairly mixed reaction to the incident, with Roy Keane one particularly harsh critic of Vardy's actions.
Nasri himself is none too pleased, fairly understandably. He trooped after Vardy when he was sent off ("typical hard man", as Neil Lennon put it on TV3) and apparently proceeded to wait for him in the tunnel after the match. When asked about Vardy's actions, Nasri didn't hold back (per the Guardian):
For me, he is a cheat. Because if he was a foreign player, you, the English press, would say he is a cheat. They were winning 2-0. Play the game like a man...you have quality, you are an international player, you don't need to do that.
I think it was a foul or something. Then he pushed me and I said: ‘What are you doing?’ Then he came in my face. That’s what happened. I did (react) but I didn’t touch him. I didn’t do anything with my head.
Admitting that he should have been "smarter", Nasri said that Vardy "did" dive, but acknowledged that Vardy "did it well". Vardy's response was predictable:
I’m not a cheat and I never have been. That’s all I’ve got to say on the matter.
The professional actions of a winner or the morally corrupt blighting of the beautiful game? That depends on one's point of view - mind you, one can't help but think that the reaction to Vardy's actions would be almost entirely negative if he was from the continent.
