Samir Nasri hits out at 'cheat' Jamie Vardy for not acting 'like a man' during Leicester sending off

The midfielder, who is on loan at Sevilla from Manchester City, believes Vardy would have been castigated for playacting by the English press were he foreign

Samir Nasri was shown a red card after appearing to butt heads with Jamie Vardy (Getty)

Leicester City's Jamie Vardy was on Wednesday night accused of being a ‘cheat’ by Samir Nasri, the Sevilla player dismissed for appearing to cause head contact between the pair - who also declared that any foreigner guilty of the Englishman's gamesmanship would be castigated.

Nasri, who could see the statutory one-game Uefa ban being doubled for failing to leave the King Power Stadium pitch after the incident, accused Vardy of failing to act “like a man” and insisted it had been the striker who caused the head contact, having barged him moments before the clash.

Insisting he did not “touch” Vardy, who recoiled after the contact, Nasri said: “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. 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.

“He played it well. It was face-to-face and he fell on the floor. I thought the English players were tougher than that and wouldn’t go on the floor like that. He is the one who came to my face and fell on the floor. He played it well.”

Nasri was dismissed in the 74th minute of his side's 2-0 defeat in Leicester, yet was still furious with Vardy at the end of the game and tried in vain to confront him in the tunnel. He said that after a foul on the edge of the Sevilla area, Nasri had pushed him. Nasri asked ‘what are you doing?’ and the Leicester player then “came to my face”, as he put it.

“I didn’t touch him, I didn’t do anything with my head,” Nasri said. “He came to my face and then went on the floor and the referee gave both us a yellow card.”

Asked was he saying that Vardy “faked” a clash to get him sent off and win the game, knowing he was on a yellow card, the Frenchman said: “You don’t think so? Look at the image and you will see. Yes he did but he did it well. I should have thought about it before and been smarter. If I tell the [full] truth I don’t think you will be able to write it.

“I would love to speak to him. Too many cameras and security [and a big] suspension. You would not be able to write [what I would say to him.]”

Nasri has impressed at Sevilla this season, on loan from Manchester City where Pep Guardiola judged him surplus to requirement, and was comfortably the Spanish side's best player before his dismissal. He did not seem to hold out much hope of becoming a fixture for Guardiola next season.

Asked if he expected to see Vardy again in the Premier League next season, Nasri said: “I don’t know what’s going to happen with my future, I’m enjoying my time here. I don’t know. We’re not playing in the same zone so it would be hard for me to get back at him but it doesn’t matter.

“I’m surprised [by what happened] but I should have thought about it and not reacted but I’m a man and I see the whole thing coming out of the Champions League which is a big blow for us. It was just a reaction.”

Nasri had to be shepherded away from the pitch by his team-mates (Getty)

Nasri will receive at least a one-match ban, but it could be more depending on how the incident and his refusal to leave the field is viewed by Uefa's disciplinary body. All red cards are reviewed by the disciplinary committee but no date has yet been set for when the case will be considered.

In response to Nasri's comments, Vardy said: “I'm not a cheat and I never have been. That's all I've got to say on the matter.”