Samir Nasri has hit out at Jamie Vardy by branding him "a cheat" following the Sevilla midfielder's red card in their 2-0 defeat at Leicester City in the Champions League on Tuesday night.
Nasri, who is on loan at Sevilla from Manchester City, was dismissed for a second booking after 74 minutes for throwing a headbutt at Vardy after the pair had clashed off the ball.
The Foxes, who had lost the first leg 2-1 in Spain, went on to book their place in the quarter-finals of the competition with a 3-2 aggregate victory.
Former Arsenal star Nasri has now claimed that Vardy made the most of the confrontation, saying he tricked Italian referee Daniele Orsato into sending him off.
"For me he's a cheat because if he was a foreign player you, the English press, would be saying he's a cheat. For me he is a cheat," Nasri is quoted by Sky Sports News as saying.
"They were winning 2-0, play the game like a man. You are not better than us but you are winning 2-0 and will qualify, just play the game.
"For an international player you don't need to do that. Look at the image. Yes he did it, but he did it well. He played it well. I thought the English players were tougher than that. He is the one who came to my face."
Goals from Foxes skipper Wes Morgan and winger Marc Albrighton had already put Leicester 2-0 ahead on the night before the incident, with goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel later saving a Steven N'Zonzi penalty for Leicester to progress.
Giuseppe Labellarte
