Fans absence riles Kompany

CAPTAIN Vincent Kompany claims it is “unacceptable” Manchester City had no fans at their Champions League tie at CSKA Moscow while the home side apparently did.

CSKA appeared to have around 200–300 fans backing them at a game that was officially played behind closed doors at the Khimki Arena.

European governing body UEFA ordered the stadium to be closed as punishment for persistent offences by CSKA fans, who have been found guilty of racist behaviour three times in the past year. Despite that, 650 people were still permitted to attend and the CSKA supporters who vocally backed their team were thought to have come from within an allocation of 300 tickets set aside for sponsors.

Kompany said: “You say ‘no fans’ then all of a sudden you turn up and basically the only team that hasn't got fans is Man City. So who’s getting punished? Who is being done for racism? City or Moscow?

It was a frustrating night for City in the Russian capital as they surrendered a two–goal lead – handed to them by Sergio Aguero and James Milner – to draw 2–2.

“I’m not making excuses but it is just little things when you leave with a result like this,” said Kompany.