Wayne Rooney once bumped into Micah Richards while his Manchester derby rival was having an embarrassing celebratory meal.
United’s Rooney and Richards of City regularly met on the pitch in the late-2000s and early 2010s. They sometimes ran into each other in the city centre too.
On one occasion, Rooney was enjoying a family meal at the popular Wings Chinese restaurant when Richards and his entourage strolled in. However, the reason for the outing was rather modest, as Rooney explained to Gary Lineker in the build-up to the FA Cup final – won 2-1 by Erik ten Hag’s United at Wembley.
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The Match of the Day host asked: “Did you two [Rooney and Richards] ever bump into each other in Manchester in those derby days?” Richards replied: “We did, didn’t we? A couple of times. You were giving it the big ‘un in Manchester in those days, weren’t ya?”
Rooney then recalled: “I’d seen Micah in Wings, Chinese restaurant. I was there with my family, quiet meal. Micah comes in with about 20 of his guys, walks in and they’re celebrating. I thought, ‘What are they celebrating?’ Micah had made his 50th Premier League appearance!”
That prompted laughter from the panel, which also included Alan Shearer. A smiling Richards then argued: “It’s the Premier League. It’s a big thing. It was a big thing for me, Wayne. Why’d you have to say that?”
Lineker also quizzed Rooney on what he did after City pipped United to the title in 2012 following ‘that’ Sergio Aguero winner. “I’m told you actually went home and watched Match of the Day that night – did you?” asked Lineker.
Rooney admitted: “Yeah, [I] went home and watched Match of the Day. I actually chuckled at Phil Jones’ face! The facials he pulls make me laugh. But yeah, that was a really tough moment, to lose the league on goal difference. It was a hard one.”
City players certainly weren’t out celebrating on Saturday night after losing to United, thanks to goals from Alejandro Garnacho and man of the match Kobbie Mainoo