Djibril Cisse fires back at Wayne Rooney over 2012 Man City title conspiracy claims

Djibril Cisse has issued a blunt public challenge to Wayne Rooney after the former Manchester United captain renewed scrutiny over QPR’s role in Manchester City’s stoppage-time 2012 Premier League title win at the Etihad Stadium.

Rooney had previously questioned two moments from that May afternoon: QPR returning the ball to City shortly after Edin Dzeko pulled the score back to 2-2, and Cisse’s post-match celebrations alongside City midfielder Samir Nasri. “Djibril Cisse celebrating after the game with the City players — that’s never been questioned,” Rooney said in 2022. “I find that strange.”

Former Premier League referee Mike Dean, who officiated the match, also recently resurfaced in a video discussing the events of that day. Cisse responded sharply on X, writing: “I’m not gonna let you people talk s like that. Let’s have a proper meeting and talk about it. Cause there is no way I gonna accept your bulls anymore. So let’s do it.” He added: “Is it our fault if they have lost 5 games in the league and waited the last game to win the league???”

Cisse has addressed the celebrations before, insisting his reaction was directed at his close friend Nasri rather than City’s title triumph. “I was celebrating with Samir Nasri, my friend of 15 years. I didn’t care about Man City — I was just happy for him and relieved that we stayed up,” he said.

He also pushed back on the suggestion that QPR eased up in the closing stages. “If we’d wanted them to win, we would’ve let them score 4-0 or 5-0, but we didn’t. We fought hard, and we had a strong team out there. It wasn’t our fault United lost the title. They dropped points all season.”

Sergei Aguero’s injury-time winner against QPR handed City their first Premier League title on goal difference from United — one of the most dramatic finales in the competition’s history. The renewed attention on that afternoon comes in the wake of City being found guilty of 114 charges related to financial rule breaches, a verdict that has prompted wider re-examination of the club’s era of dominance. City have since won a further seven Premier League titles.