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LONDON (AP)—One is accused of accidentally shooting a young intern with an air rifle. The other is under fire for elbowing an opponent in the head.

Despite the latest incidents that have further tarnished their reputations, Chelsea defender Ashley Cole and Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney have been cleared to play Tuesday in one of the most highly anticipated games of the Premier League season.

While Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti accepts Cole “stepped over the line” in accidentally shooting an intern at the team’s training ground eight days ago, a fine is the harshest punishment facing the defender.

Rooney can play after The Football Association conceded it was powerless to ban him for elbowing a Wigan player in an off-the-ball incident on Saturday’s league match.

The transgressions have raised fresh questions about players’ conduct on and off the pitch and the lack of desire to ensure they face stricter punishments.

Ancelotti insisted there was “no way” Cole would be fired after the left back played around with a .22 air gun and accidentally left sports sciences student Tom Cowan—who is on a one-year internship at Chelsea—wounded and bleeding .

Chelsea had hoped the incident would never be made public, with the details only emerging in the News of the World tabloid on Sunday exactly a week after the shooting.

Even after the front-page story was published, Chelsea stressed that despite the severity of the incident it wouldn’t comment on an “internal matter,” dismissing it in the same tone as transfer speculation.

Even on Monday, Ancelotti stressed that Cole “always had very good behavior here.”

“Who didn’t make a mistake in his life?” the Italian asked reporters. “The mistake was that the gun was here in Cobham. We didn’t know the gun was here … (the) players aren’t out of control.”

Despite Ancelotti praising Cole, the air rifle incident last Sunday is not the first time Cole has attracted negative publicity.

While few doubt his abilities on the pitch—the 30-year-old Cole is the England national team’s most-capped fullback—he has been criticized for poor conduct on the pitch and cheating on his pop star wife Cheryl Cole.

“Obviously, we are not happy with what happened, but I have spoken with him,” Ancelotti said. “He was very disappointed with this, and said sorry. It was an accident. We have taken proper action but tomorrow he will play.”

Ancelotti can’t afford to drop Cole, with Chelsea in danger of missing out on the Champions League places as it sits in fifth place and 15 points adrift of leader United.

“It is a very important game for the futures of Manchester United and Chelsea,” Ancelotti said. “It will not be easy because Manchester United has until now been the best team in the Premier League. It is very difficult for us to close this gap … and to come back. Manchester United can decide its destiny.”

And as United heads toward a record-breaking 19th English title, a siege mentality exists at Old Trafford.

While Cole accidentally discharged a lead pellet, United manager Alex Ferguson is figuratively shooting the messenger over the Rooney incident.

“As it is Wayne, the press will raise a campaign to get him hung or electrocuted, something like that,” Ferguson told United’s in-house television channel.

Referee Mark Clattenburg didn’t book Rooney on Saturday for taking a swipe at the back of James McCarthy’s head after the Wigan midfielder had appeared set to block his run.

The body that manages referees in England defended Clattenburg’s decision.

“Match officials are trained to prioritize following the ball, as that’s where the greater majority of incidents are going to take place,” Professional Game Match Officials general manager Mike Riley said. “In this incident Mark was following play but caught sight of two players coming together and he awarded a free kick because he believed one player had impeded the other.

“We should be clear that Mark did nothing wrong in officiating this incident as he acted on what he saw on the pitch.”

FIFA rules prevent the FA from retrospectively imposing a stern sanction on Rooney after reviewing video evidence, but that hasn’t stopped the striker’s temperament being condemned—and not for the first time.

It has been a lackluster injury-plagued season for the 25-year-old Rooney on the pitch. And he was kept out of the team after being accused of cheating on his then-pregnant wife with prostitutes.

Labels: battle, Football, Rooney

By Mitch Phillips

LONDON, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Wayne Rooney seems likely to escape punishment for elbowing Wigan Athletic’s James McCarthy on Saturday as the referee saw the incident and awarded a free kick against the Manchester United striker.

Rooney caught McCarthy off the ball in an innocuous situation on the halfway line after four minutes of the Premier League match at the DW Stadium, which United went on to win 4-0.

He was widely condemned for the action.

The referee awarded a free kick but did not caution Rooney, leaving Wigan manager Roberto Martinez furious.

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

“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.” United manager Alex Ferguson, however, said “there is nothing in it”.

“But, what will happen, 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.”

United’s victory took them four points clear of Arsenal, who play Birmingham City in the League Cup final later on Sunday.

They can stretch that lead to seven when they play Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on Tuesday.

(Editing by John O’Brien; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Labels: elbow, ESCAPE, incident, punishment, Reuters, Rooney

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The 25-year-old scored for the first time in open play since March and doubled his tally against Aston Villa in their 3-1 win on Tuesday.

The goals took him on to five for this season, leaving him halfway to the double figure tally Sir Alex Ferguson has demanded he achieve at the very least before the end of the campaign.

Rooney's return to his goalscoring habits may not be assured just yet, but Nani is confident that the England striker can get back to his best at the right time and help United see off their rivals and land a record 19th title.

"Wayne will go on a run now," said Nani.

"He might not have scored many goals but he is very important for the team because he works so hard in every game.

"Sometimes the games haven't gone the way he wanted but last night was his best performance of this season.

"He will be more confident now and I am sure he will score more goals in the next few games.

"We are a very confident team at the moment.

"We don't want to lose and will work hard to keep this way because we want to finish the season in first.

"I don't know how long we can go on for but we hope to finish the season unbeaten.

"It will be very hard but we intend to win those last games as well."

Labels: rivals, Rooney, SkySports, warns

Wayne Rooney's first-half double guided unbeaten Premier League leader Manchester United to a convincing 3-1 win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Tuesday. The England striker opened the scoring after just 48 seconds and added a second on the stroke of halftime to set United on its way to a 12th win in 13 home matches this campaign.

Labels: beats, Rooney, scores, United, Villa

A brace from Wayne Rooney in a 3-1 victory over Aston Villa kept Manchester United five points clear at the top of the Premier League, but Arsenal and Chelsea stayed in touch with the unbeaten leaders with come-from-behind victories on Tuesday. Rooney scored with virtually the first and last kicks of the first half at Old Trafford to help United to a convincing win that equaled the club's...

Labels: brace, clear, keeps, points, Rooney, United

The Manchester United fans deserve that from me.

Wayne Rooney.
Quotes of the week

The England international produced an astonishing piece of skill to settle the Manchester derby 2-1 in United's favour with his sublime 78th minute overhead kick.

Rooney later admitted it was the best goal of his career, and manager Sir Alex Ferguson admitted he had not seen a better technical strike at the home of the Red Devils.

It was a rare high point in what has been a season of struggle for the United forward, with a loss of form, off-field concerns and a contract wrangle all placing him under the spotlight.

"The Manchester United fans deserve that from me," Rooney said.

"I haven't had the best of seasons and I know how big this game is in Manchester, so I hope they enjoyed that.

"Now the aim is to keep scoring and help us get that title back."

United remain four points ahead of nearest challengers Arsenal as they target a record 19th top-flight title, but now boast an eight-point advantage over City with the further benefit of a game in hand.

"We are the team to catch. We know how it feels to be top of the league and to get over that finish line," Rooney added.

"We have the experience with the manager and the players and we know what we have to do.

"Hopefully within the next six or seven games, we can maintain that gap, or make it bigger."

And Rooney rejected suggestions that Roberto Mancini's expensively-assembled squad were unfortunate to leave Old Trafford with nothing to show for their efforts.

"I don't think they were that unlucky," continued Rooney. "They played OK. They moved the ball well at times. But they didn't hurt us. They didn't penetrate us.

"Other than the Silva chance in the first half, they didn't really have a clear chance.

"We had two or three. Based on that, we deserved to win."

Labels: Rooney, SkySports

LONDON (AP)—Wayne Rooney could still have to pay a 4.3 million-pound ($6.9 million) compensation claim by his agent’s former management company following a London court judgment.

Manchester Mercantile Court ruled last year that Proactive was not entitled to commission related to multimillion-pound deals brokered by the firm on the England striker’s behalf.

But Lord Justice Alan Ward at London’s Court of Appeal says Proactive’s arguments were valid and that “the mere fact that this was a claim for millions of pounds is almost in itself a compelling reason to give permission to appeal” against the Manchester ruling.

The Manchester United player stopped paying Proactive after agent Paul Stretford quit in 2008, taking the firm’s client with him.

Labels: court, London, Proactive, pursue, Rooney

Rooney has struggled to replicate his free-scoring form of last season and his double in Tuesday's 3-1 success over Villa took his tally to five for the campaign.

The England striker has been set the target of reaching double figures by Ferguson, with Dimitar Berbatov having shouldered much of the burden this term.

However, ahead of Saturday's trip to Wolves, which pits top against bottom, Ferguson is confident the United forward is ready to enjoy a purple patch.

"Hopefully - and there's every chance with scoring the kind of goals he scored the other night - that he'll take off," said Ferguson.

"Goalscorers are like that and hopefully that's what we're going to see with Wayne. He's got 14 league games, European games and FA Cup games - he could easily get a good average.

"What Wayne has always had is a fantastic energy to play in a game. He's always committed to doing his best. The bonus is, as we saw the other night, he got two goals.

"Last season he was very consistent, but in the previous years he has scored in clutches of five or six games. But if he can get the consistency of last season then we are going to benefit from that."

Meanwhile, the United manager is confident that Rafael and Darren Fletcher will both be fit for the game at Molineux following recent head-related injuries.

He added: "Rafael should be OK. He has trained. He should be available against Wolves.

"I don't think we've got any other injuries from Tuesday night.

"With Fletcher, we'll assess him today. What happened is that his eye closed and he couldn't see the ball properly. So we had to take him off. I'm sure he'll be OK."

Labels: Fergie, ready, Rooney, SkySports

Labels: decisive, Manchester, Rooney, United