'Keown was a fantastic actor... he got Totti sent off'

Fabio Capello, the Roma coach, last night launched an ill-tempered attack on the "lack of sportsmanship" shown in England. "This time you have really failed," he said when asked about the sending-off of his captain Francesco Totti following a clash with Arsenal's Martin Keown.

"You [the English] are always trying to show people lessons in good sportsmanship but this time you failed. The English are always saying that we Italians are always throwing ourselves to the ground but this time we have swapped sides."

Totti was dismissed with a straight red card when he appeared to catch Keown in the face as the two jumped for a header just 22 minutes into the match.

"I did not touch him. I am sure of it. For the last 10 minutes he had been kicking me and I complained to the referee," Totti said.

The players had clashed twice previously in the game and Totti appeared to try to strike Keown with his hand, making little attempt to reach the ball. However, Keown did also seem to exaggerate the impact. Television replays appeared to show only a slight contact.

"The defender was a fantastic actor," said Capello, in an outburst which would not have been out of character if it had come from Sir Alex Ferguson, the man he was reportedly lined-up to replace as Manchester United manager last year. "Before writing what you are going to write," he told reporters, "I beg you to look at the replay. He [Totti] jumped and stuck out his hand. It was clearly not an elbow. He leans on the other player. I repeat the defender was an excellent actor. Keown got what he wanted and he managed to get Totti sent off."

Capello – like, unsurprisingly, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger – admitted he had not seen the incident when it had happened but had watched television replays. The Roma coach is under tremendous pressure, because of his team's poor domestic form, although, after this draw, they still have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals of the Champions' League.

Wenger said of the sending-off: "I did not see anything at all. I just saw the red card. I was surprised – maybe it was an accident."

The Arsenal manager said that he remained optimistic about his side's chances but admitted it was "difficult to explain" the continuing indifference of their form in Europe. "We gave away cheap goals against Ajax and a cheap goal again tonight," he said. "We played the game we wanted tonight. We went forward and dominated the game and we well on top when it was eleven versus eleven. When they went down, the game was a bit different.

"We got punished just before half-time. It was a bad moment and after that they played everybody at the back and we did not finish them off."

It was a partisan – and unfair – assessment of Roma who missed the best chance towards the end. Wenger admitted: "We had a few half chances but the best chance was Montella's with the header. Fortunately, we were not punished which would have been harsh and cruel."